The Uncertainty Principle
by Quatermass
Summary: (Female Harry! Evil Dumbledore!) Two teenagers, with shared circumstances. Both shaped by deluded old men into weapons against immortal monsters. But perhaps they are more alike than most thought. Rose Potter and Schrödinger find themselves fighting off manipulations from all sides as they come to terms with their pasts...and a growing bond with each other.
1. Foreword

**FOREWORD**

After the runaway success of _Haemophilia_ , my Harry Potter/ _Hellsing_ work based with permission on a story idea by sakurademonalchemist ( _It's in the Blood_ , the first three chapters of which can be seen in her sample chapters compilation _Short Story Drabbles_ ), I had an idea. Someone in a review had posited shipping Harry Potter with Schrödinger, the endearing catboy character from _Hellsing_. While I am not into slashfics, and couldn't write one if my life depended on it, the same cannot be said about genderflipped characters. And given that I had written a Schrödinger who was a good guy for _Haemophilia_ , I wanted to do something similar. Another reader sent me a similar idea by PM, despite my explicitly-stated ban on being sent story ideas, though I had already started the first draft of this work. This is a later draft of this story.

I am far from the first writer to do a good Schrödinger. In fact, my portrayal of Schrödinger in _Haemophilia_ actually owed something to another of sakurademonalchemist's works, _A Deal Made in Good Faith_ , primarily a crossover between _Harry Potter_ and _Supernatural_ , but with elements of _Ghost Rider, Hellsing_ , and _The Avengers_ thrown in. And while I was writing _Haemophilia_ , the parallels between Harry's life and Schrödinger's struck me. Yes, there are parallels, especially if you take the bashing views of why Dumbledore left Harry with the Dursleys. Both Harry and Schrödinger were raised by people you would NOT want to be guardians of any child, and were shaped into weapons against a seemingly immortal foe by old men.

For this reason, this will be, at the very least, one of the few fics where I bash Dumbledore, or rather, turn him into a villain. I didn't do so for _Haemophilia_ , but for this one, I intend to. Fair warning. Oh, and the female Harry will be not human, like the Harry of _Haemophilia_ / _It's in the Blood_. But **not** a vampire.

Incidentally, this is, along with _Verdant Magic_ and _Yin and Yang_ , the first graduate of _The Cauldron_ , where the first three chapters got a good response. Enjoy.

Anyway, time for the usual disclaimers. Firstly, there will be spoilers for Harry Potter and _Hellsing_.

Secondly, there will be annotations. Complaints will **not** be tolerated.

Thirdly, this is an M-rated work, which is far from surprising, given that _Hellsing_ is involved. Violence and horror is a given, and there will be language and disturbing themes.

Finally, the following is a fan-written work. Harry Potter and _Hellsing_ are the property of their respective owners. Please support the official release. Otherwise, Alexander Anderson will turn you into a silver bayonet pincushion…


	2. Chapter 1: Cat Sìth

**CHAPTER 1:**

 **CAIT SÌTH**

 _There are many variations of the same story, of the child of the Potters. Who is a villain, and who is a hero, varies between each telling of the story. But there is almost always a cottage at Godric's Hollow. There is almost always a prophecy, engineered or not. There are two old men, one who fell into darkness in pursuit of power and immortality, the other who dances so close to the edge, sometimes, he falls into the darkness too, and other times, he stays in the light._

 _This is not one of the stories where he stays in the light. This is one of those stories where he uses the light to blind people to the darkness within. A darkness that drives him to be a Dark Lord from within the light._

 _And there is a child. In this story, it's a girl. Even if she isn't human. A girl on whom the fate of an entire society rests. One who will become famous through tragedy._

 _Where it begins is tricky. It could begin in Wallachia, centuries ago, where a man with a dark past becomes a monster. It could begin when an English lawyer makes a fateful journey to Transylvania. It could begin with an argument between two brothers, a sister, and a charismatic young man. It could begin when an inbred witch, desperate to escape her impoverished life, ensnares a local landowner with a love potion, and out of a loveless union, a child is born. It could begin during the Second World War, where, while two wizards clash against each other, an ancient vampire and a teenaged assassin attack a Nazi facility in Warsaw, Poland. It could begin where a couple, desperate for a child of their own, willingly adopt a baby girl who isn't even human, while half a world away, a boy of the same species is born into the custody of a surviving group of fanatics. It could begin when a girl is left on a cold doorstep by a meddling old man with, in this story at least, less than benign motives. It could begin when a young girl, desperate to save herself from a treacherous uncle, manages to revive an ancient monster, who swears itself to her service._

 _Where to begin the story? That is, indeed, the question. Perhaps we should start at the time when a girl met a boy. Like many such meetings, it happened quite by accident and coincidence, and yet, catalysed something greater. It begins with the girl fleeing her home, and her relatives, not knowing that bonds on her all her life, bonds which had been rotting since she was nearly killed by a Basilisk, were about to snap…_

* * *

Rose Potter knew she was in trouble. She was stranded, lugging a huge trunk through the darkened Magnolia Crescent, and may be on the verge of being expelled from Hogwarts after turning that vile woman she was forced to call Aunt Marge into a human zeppelin. And something had felt different for a while. It had done ever since the Basilisk bit her as she killed it, ever since Fawkes watched on, seemingly letting her die, despite her desperation not to…

…Only for her to survive. One moment she was dead, and the next, she was alive, albeit with black smoke pouring out of her scar, screaming, and the shade of Tom Riddle staring at her incredulously. And shortly after killing the spirit within the diary, the Sorting Hat had remarked rather enigmatically that she was being set free, and told her to tell everyone that Fawkes had used Phoenix tears on her wounds.

She didn't understand what she had begun to feel during the weeks she had spent at Privet Drive. At first, she thought it was part of puberty hitting her. After all, she had recently gone through her menarche (and Aunt Petunia, for once, had been merciful enough to buy hygiene products for her). But she got the feeling this was something else.

It felt like something within her was straining to get free. Like parts of her that were missing for the longest time. One thing she had was very good (even supernatural) night vision, and an extremely good sense of smell. Sometimes, Hermione would claim that Rose's irises seemed to glow gently in the dark of the dorm, like luminescent emeralds. Hermione would tell Rose that she reminded her of a cat at times, alternating between playful and unsociable. Rose was struck by the comparison, especially as Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw who had come to Hogwarts last year and was a friend of Ginny's, made enigmatic comments about Rose and cats.

Rose was definitely a cat person. If Hagrid hadn't gotten her Hedwig, then she would have gotten a cat at Diagon Alley. She even got along with Mrs Norris, Filch's cat, and she had, if not a friendship, then a more cordial relationship with the Squib than almost any other student in the school thanks to that. It was almost as if she understood what Mrs Norris was saying.

As she came to a stop, exhausted, she contemplated her options, given that she was up a certain creek without a paddle. It was while she was considering becoming an outcast, using her money to fund a life in exile, that she sensed something nearby. She could smell something…something between dog and man. And she didn't know why that came to mind. She turned carefully, her eyes roving the dark, until she froze upon looking between the alley and garage. She could see faintly what looked like a massive black dog. And its eyes, shining in the darkness, were _looking at her_.

She was frozen in place as it trotted up to her. Even in the darkness, she could see that, although large, there was something vaguely pitiable about it. It looked emaciated, with matted fur. But she was still wary. Her instincts were screaming at her.

Suddenly, the dog shifted, and changed. Where a mangy dog once stood, an emaciated, ragged man, with matted black hair and a beard. His grey eyes danced feverishly. With a thrill of horror, Rose recognised him as the escaped murderer she had seen briefly on television, Black if she recalled his name.

For a moment, they stood staring at each other, Rose frightened out of her wits at having an escaped murderer facing her down. And if he had changed from a dog, what were the odds that he was a wizard?

Then, the man asked, in a hoarse voice, "…Rose?"

Shit, he knew who she was. Then again, given the scar…

"Stay away from me," she hissed in fear. She wanted to be anywhere but here. She only distantly noticed that the look on his face was not of someone trying to attack her, but of concern. The rest of her wanted to get away.

Suddenly, something broke within her. Suddenly, a power flooded right through her, and it felt natural, like it belonged, even as it seemed to overwhelm her. It was as if she was spread out across the world, no, the _universe_ , and she could be anywhere she wanted to be.

And so, she _leapt_.

* * *

Sirius Black stared at the empty space where his goddaughter used to be. For a moment, he was merely astonished. Then, he realised something. Just before she vanished (and without the distinctive crack of Apparition), he thought he glimpsed a pair of cat ears appearing from beneath her messy mop of black hair.

It took a moment for him to process it, before a long-buried memory rose from its grave. A painful, rueful smile touched his lips. He only hoped that his goddaughter would be safe, wherever she ended up…

* * *

When she was young, Rose, in order to escape Dudley and his merry little band of bullies, had teleported up to the roof of the school. She had been slapped around by her uncle and thrown into the cupboard for that. When she discussed the incident with Hermione and Ron during their first year, Ron had called it Apparition, with Hermione speculating that it was perhaps accidental magic. But some part of Rose knew that they were wrong.

She found herself in a library of what looked like an old mansion. Rose knew that Hermione would be drooling at the arrays of books on dark wooden shelves. She certainly was. She wasn't quite as overt about being a bookworm as Hermione was (and to be fair, Rose preferred reading fiction to textbooks, whereas Hermione was equally at home with both), but she was definitely a bibliophile, and for a moment, she facetiously wondered whether she had died and gone to heaven.

"Rose?"

The voice came from behind her, and she whirled to face it, idly wondering why her ears felt different. There was a painting on the nearby wall, and she recognised two of the people on it. One was a young man with a shaggy mess of black hair and hazel eyes. The other was a young woman with red hair and emerald eyes. Her parents. She recognised them from the photo album that Hagrid had given her at the end of her first year.

But the third person was another matter entirely.

Rose realised, with a shock, that she resembled this third person, a seemingly-young and very beautiful woman, more than she resembled her parents. The woman seemed to be in her twenties, with a messy shock of black hair, green eyes that almost glowed, and dressed rather casually. Her parents were dressed, while not formally, a bit more conservatively, whereas the woman was dressed in jeans and a shirt. The shirt had Hello Kitty on it(1). Which, in a way, was rather appropriate.

After all, the woman seemed to have a pair of cat ears poking through her hair. And was that a _tail_ protruding from a hole in the woman's jeans?

"Mum? Dad?" Rose asked in a quiet voice.

The three people smiled at her warmly, though the cat-eared woman then looked at the other two. "I think we'd better ease her in. We need to find out what happened, first. She should have been here ages ago," the woman said with a musical voice that had an Irish lilt to it.

Lily nodded, before looking at Rose. "Rose, darling…who's been raising you? Please tell me it's Padfoot…I mean, Sirius."

"Sirius? No, it was your sister and her family," Rose said bitterly.

James Potter facepalmed. "Ugh, you called it, Lily. That old goat wouldn't leave it alone. I'll bet he's sealed our wills, too. He _knew_ we didn't want Rose to go to that horse-faced hag! That's what Padfoot was for!"

"Who is that?" Rose asked. Was she meant to go with someone else all this time?

"Sirius Black," Lily explained.

Rose's eyes widened. "That escaped convict…the one on the TV…I was meant to go with him?!"

"Convict…oh, _shit_ ," the cat-eared woman said, facepalming herself. "Looks like your diversionary tactic backfired. Pettigrew must've framed him. Bastard."

"Catriona(2), language," Lily said. "I told you not to swear in front of Rose, remember?"

"Look, can someone please tell me what's going on?" Rose demanded.

The three of them looked at each other, before they nodded. And so, they began to tell her what she needed to know…

* * *

"Okay, so let me get this straight: because of some prophecy uttered by the current Divination teacher of Hogwarts, Voldemort targeted me. We went into hiding using something called the Fidelius Charm, where only the Secret Keeper could tell people where we were hiding. Sirius Black claimed to be the Secret Keeper as a decoy, but it was actually Peter Pettigrew, who must have betrayed you, and he somehow framed Sirius. I'm currently in the Potter Manor. Have I got that right?" Rose asked.

"Yes," James said. "I thought something was up when nobody came here. Well, apart from one person, that squatter who sometimes comes here. But Rose…there's more to this." He pointed over at a mirror Rose hadn't noticed. "Have a look in the mirror."

Rose did so, and recoiled upon looking into it. She looked different now. After all, she was certain she hadn't had cat ears before, poking out through her hair. She reached up, and gently tugged on them. Yep, very real.

Catriona now spoke. "This might be hard for you to grasp, Rose…but James and Lily are not your parents, at least not by blood, anyway. You're not human, Rose. Not wholly, anyway, thanks to the adoption potion James and Lily gave you. _I_ am your mother. Like me, you are a Cat Sìth."

 **CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Rose is at the Potter Manor, and she has just learned that she isn't human. Now, what does this have to do with** ** _Hellsing_** **, I hear you guys ask? Read on and find out. Schrödinger will make an appearance before long, and so too will Alucard and Integra, though not until later for those two.**

 **In** ** _Haemophilia_** **, Schrödinger was more of an experimental hybrid between human, cat, and House Elf. Here, he (along with Rose) are Cat Sìth. I'm taking some liberties with the original legends of the Cat Sìth, but it helps. Not all Cat Sìth have powers like Schrödinger (or Rose, as we'll find out). And keep in mind that Fawkes let Rose 'die' in order for her powers to be re-awakened. Fawkes is most definitely on Rose's side. The Basilisk venom merely triggered her ability (like Schrödinger) to undo her own death. We'll explain that later.**

 **1.** ** _Hello Kitty_** **made its debut in the Seventies, so it's not out of the question for Catriona to be wearing a T-shirt.**

 **2\. Catriona is pronounced 'Katrina'. Gotta love the Irish language. It means 'pure', though I chose it for the bad cat pun. Hey, it was either that or Leona, and I wanted an Irish name.**


	3. Chapter 2: Fuchsia and Emerald

**CHAPTER 2:**

 **FUCHSIA AND EMERALD**

Rose stared at the painting in sheer incomprehension. Taking advantage of her silence, James said, "I know this is a bit of a shock. Not many people knew that you weren't actually our child. Outside of Sirius and Remus, only Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall knew that you weren't our child. I was hit with a curse that rendered me sterile when fighting the Death Eaters."

"My own husband willingly joined Voldemort," Catriona said. "I knew Professor McGonagall, and through her, James and Lily. I became unofficially known as a Marauder shortly after they graduated from Hogwarts."

Rose nodded. James and Lily had told her about the Marauders while explaining about Sirius and Pettigrew, along with Remus Lupin, a werewolf associate of them. "So, why did you give me to the Potters?"

"I got a curse myself. When I killed my husband, your biological father, he placed a curse on me with his dying breath. I had a choice to make: either save myself, and cause your death, or else allow the curse to progress beyond the point of no return so that I could give birth to you. I made the decision. The Potters were delighted to have you. They just wished it wasn't at my expense."

"And what is a Cat Sìth?" Rose asked.

"The term literally means 'fairy cat', and is used to denote a cat that walks upright. In truth, we look more like humans than cats, with magical affinities that grant us special abilities, in addition to magical ability like those of wizards and witches. I, for example, had an affinity with electricity, or rather, electromagnetism. You, however, have what is the rarest affinity of all: 'void', or, if you'd prefer, 'potentiality'. Astonishingly, two had been born with this affinity this century. It's rare for one to even be born in one century."

"What does void affinity mean?"

Lily smiled. "There's an old saying that 'nature abhors a vacuum'. Like Catriona said, a better term would be 'potentiality', because where there's nothing, something has to exist eventually."

Catriona nodded, before adding, "The first thing about having such an affinity is that you're immortal, especially where accidents or malice are concerned, as long as you have the will to live, to perceive that you are alive and unharmed. You'll grow until you are an adult, and then, you'll simply cease to age. There are ways to kill one such as yourself, but they require someone to know what you are."

Rose suddenly had a flashback to the Basilisk. "That's why Fawkes let me die from the Basilisk venom."

"Fawkes? Dumbledore's Phoenix? Wait, what, a _Basilisk?!_ " Lily demanded.

Catriona, meanwhile, while she looked shocked, she also looked thoughtful. "Basilisk venom can destroy many things, though a Cat Sìth with a potentiality affinity isn't one of them. If anything, it would have destroyed any enchantments or bindings on you, or at least weakened them terminally. Maybe that's why Fawkes did so. We'll get back to that later. Now, I said one of your abilities was near-immortality and invincibility. The other is being able to go literally anywhere. It's like Apparition, the wizarding teleportation ability, only stronger and more versatile. As long as you can envision a destination, and you'll be able to see where you're going first so you don't end up in danger, you can go there, anti-Apparition wards be damned. As you can imagine, that's a powerful ability. You are effectively everywhere, and nowhere."

"We'll talk about that later," Lily said. "Rose, I need to know…what has happened to you? Why did you have to fight a Basilisk of all things?!"

Rose sighed quietly. This was going to be a long story…

* * *

Once she had finished telling her tale, her parents, adoptive and biological, were livid. James Potter had a major scowl on his face, while Rose's mothers both had this eerily calm look on their face. Rose, however, knew that they were angry, and not with her. They were furious with the Dursleys, with Snape, and especially Dumbledore.

"But I don't understand! Why are you so angry with Dumbledore?" Rose demanded.

"Besides leaving you with the Dursleys? If you were actually of our blood, then maybe he'd have an excuse: he could have used blood wards to help protect you, as long as you stayed with someone with my blood," Lily said. "And even then, there are so many others you could have stayed with. Even if Sirius was in prison, and Remus was excluded because he was a werewolf, there's others, like the Longbottoms, the Bones family…at the very least, Dumbledore has made some pretty poor decisions," Lily said. "Leaving you with the Dursleys is just one of them, especially if there have been bindings on you that the Basilisk bite released. I fear something else, though. But enough about him for the time being. You're home now, where you should be, and damn the Dursleys. Of course, there's another thing to consider."

Catriona nodded. "We set this painting up with a special charm that would bring you here when your powers were unleashed, just in case, so when you teleported from somewhere, you'd come here. But it's a fairly general charm, like a homing beacon to all Cat Sìth with a void affinity."

"You mentioned there's another like me, with the same ability, though it is rare," Rose said, trying to take her mind off the accusations against Dumbledore.

"Yes. He was born shortly after you were. I know this because I was on holiday in Brazil with his family when he was kidnapped, and his parents killed. It was one last holiday before I died of the curse. I fled back to England using a Portkey when I couldn't find him. About a year ago, he ended up here. It was horrible, what his kidnappers had done to him."

"Had they tortured him?"

"Worse," Catriona said. "When he first appeared, he was wearing the uniform of the _Hitlerjugend_ , better known as the Hitler Youth, the sole youth organisation of the Nazis, and a paramilitary group. He has been back here multiple times, and we've managed to get his story out of him, such as it is. During the Second World War, there was a group of Nazis who intended to weaponise vampires and other supernatural creatures, working in Warsaw. Their operation was destroyed by members of the Hellsing Organisation."

"Hellsing is also known as the Royal Order of Protestant Knights, and was founded by Abraham van Helsing, one of the men instrumental in defeating Count Dracula," Lily said.

"Wait, Dracula was real?" Rose asked.

"Yes, he was, and he was a vampire, albeit later in his life," James said. "However, unlike the book, instead of killing Dracula forever, van Helsing managed to bind him as a servant to his bloodline. The Potter family were amongst those van Helsing consulted in experimenting on Dracula, who was renamed 'Alucard', to enhance his strength. Alucard was one of those sent to destroy the Nazi experiments in Warsaw. But many of the key personnel of that Nazi group escaped to Brazil, where they became known as 'Millennium'. This was the group that kidnapped the other Cat Sìth with your affinity."

"Fortunately, while the indoctrination Millennium put him through was pretty thorough, I don't think he's beyond redemption. I think he's beginning to have doubts about his mission, now that he has this place to…well, be a kid in."

"Plus, he's practically a Marauder," James said with a smile. "Apparently he's quite the prankster in Millennium. Serves them right. They're trying to ensure he will sacrifice his existence for the cause."

"I thought you said that those of us with a void affinity cannot die or be killed normally," Rose said.

"Yes, but there are some exceptions. One of them is if a vampire feeds on your blood, or at least an older one. You see, vampires can absorb the souls of their victims if they wish, rather like Dementors. But unlike Dementors, who merely feed on souls, the vampires actually can use the souls as their own army of familiars. Someone like Alucard would have millions of souls within them. But if a Cat Sìth with a void affinity is absorbed by a vampire…well, your ability depends on your ability to assert your own existence. Imagine doing that while amongst so many other souls. You would sink into the void, and take with you the vampire that fed on you," Catriona said. "Millennium wants to defeat Alucard for once and for all, using the other Cat Sìth as the means. He doesn't deserve to die like that."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked. "You said he belongs to a Nazi organisation, and you know that Voldemort…"

"Yes, I know. But I think it's because he doesn't know any better. And I think he's also been magically bound to someone in Millennium, possibly given potions. Sadly, we gave our House Elves away to others shortly before we went into hiding, or else we'd ask them to try and remove the binding," Lily said.

"We can help by giving you a purgative potion to give to him first," Catriona said. "I'd suggest taking that purgative first, it flushes you of any potentially harmful potions."

"There's some under a stasis charm in the potions cupboard in the kitchen," Lily said. "Just make sure you're close to a sink or a bucket when you drink it. If there's anything in you, you'll be vomiting it up."

"Great," Rose remarked sourly. Still, might as well get this over and done with.

* * *

Finishing vomiting into the sink, Rose wiped her mouth, and glared angrily at the results as she washed it down. Son of a bitch, she HAD been dosed with potions!

There was another portrait with her parents in it, as they had shifted to this one's frame. Lily was scowling. "Judging by the colours, there was a compulsion potion and a suppression potion in you, and they've been in you for some time."

"English, please?" Rose rasped.

"A compulsion potion is often keyed to a single person, and foments near-complete loyalty to that person. The effects are like the Imperius Curse, but more subtle."

"Imperius?"

"Mind-control spell," Lily said apologetically. "The suppression potion suppresses…well, intelligence, magical and physical ability. Both potions have been used together by the darkest of families to control their servants and even unruly family members. The Blacks had been notorious for using them until the beginning of this century. I remember Sirius saying that his mother wanted to go back to the 'good old days'. It'll be some time before the effects wear off completely."

"I don't want to go through that ever again," Rose said emphatically. She looked at the exquisitely-crafted bottle sitting there, looking like some elaborate alcohol bottle, like the scotch bottles Vernon had. There was a half-filled glass of the potion she had already drunk from, a clear water-like liquid, next to the bottle.

"You shouldn't have to," Catriona said. "This is your home now, as it should have been. You won't have to go back to the Dursleys ever again."

Before she could say anything, the door to the kitchen opened, and Rose found herself looking at a boy about her own age walking in. She froze, and so did he. He cocked his head after a moment, peering at her, his ears twitching. Yes, he had cat-like ears, like her own, protruding from a messy mop of blonde hair. His face was cute, even slightly feminine, and she would learn that it often had a smile or a smirk on it. He was dressed in a uniform that Rose would later learn was a _Hitlerjugend_ or Hitler Youth uniform, with a beige shirt and dark shorts, a black tie and epaulettes, and an armband with a swastika on it. But his most striking features were his eyes, a beautiful fuchsia colour that seemed to shine faintly.

After a moment, he said, in a lilting voice that still carried a Teutonic accent, "That is rather naughty of you, Fraulein, raiding the liquor cupboard." He smirked as he reached for the glass, sniffed it, and then drank it. "Hmm, a bit bitter. They won't let me drink back at home. I have to wonder why."

"Drinking's bad for you," Rose said. "And that wasn't alcohol. That's a purgative potion."

" _Was zum Tiefel?!_ " the boy demanded. Suddenly, he heaved, and rushed over to the sink. It was kind of funny to see the boy begin puking copiously into the sink, his eyes comically wide. After nearly a minute of this, he eventually stopped, and then glared at Rose. " _Verdammt Scheisse!_ What did you do that for?!"

"You were the one who drank the potion without asking what it was."

The boy suddenly seemed to notice her ears properly, or at least it seemed to occur to him to ask. "…Fraulein, why do you have ears like mine?"

"Because she's like you," Catriona said from her portrait. "Rose, this is Schrödinger. Schrödinger, this is my daughter, Rose Potter. You're both Cat Sìths. Now play nice, kids."

Once more, Schrödinger cocked his head quizzically. And Rose had to wonder what the hell she had gotten herself into now…

 **CHAPTER 2 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **And here you have it, at long last: Rose meeting Schrödinger. And in case you're wondering how it was so easy for Schrödinger to drink the potion, well, Kouta Hirano does put in quite a bit of humour into** ** _Hellsing_** **, and I thought that very much like Schrödinger. He's very much like that mischievous sort of cat that ends up exploring or playing with something, only to get hurt or embarrassed (or both) in the process. His immortality doesn't help matters either. I think of him as being a little klutzy. This does show a little in** ** _Hellsing_** **: witness him losing his handbook for Millennium's invasion.**

 **Anyway, the stage has been set for Schrödinger to defect from Millennium.**

 **No numbered annotations for this chapter.**


	4. Chapter 3: Schrödinger

**CHAPTER 3:**

 **SCHRÖDINGER**

With a groan, fuchsia eyes flickered open. The blonde boy with the cat ears stretched and yawned on his bed, morning amnesia mercifully giving him ignorance about his situation until he finished going to the toilet. Then, he walked out, a frown marring his cute features. He was dressed only in pyjamas, a little oversized, but it was the best he could do. According to the nametag, they belonged to an 'S Black', presumably from when he was a teenager.

Schrödinger realised he had a void within him. It took him a moment to realise what that absence meant. There were all those feelings towards Millennium, towards the Major and the Doctor. Towards the ideals of National Socialism, as well as the ideal of total war for its own sake. Loyalty to those, above all others. And the honour of sacrificing himself to defeat the ultimate vampire, Alucard.

Anger filled that void for a moment. He had been robbed of those wonderful, wonderful feelings, tricked by that dark-haired bitch with the emerald eyes. And he wanted them back! He wanted them back RIGHT NOW!

Then, he realised that not everything had changed. His feelings of friendship towards the Captain, and towards Rip van Winkle, the only two in Millennium he could call friends. They were still there. The desire for pranks towards the Major and the Doctor, and Zorin and Alhambra, not to mention the collection of coprolites(1) known as the Old Men of the Opera House. The sharing of dirty jokes with Jan Valentine, despite Rip's admonishments that he was too young to know such things.

Last night, he hadn't spent much time after taking the potion being awake. He had headed to the bedroom he habitually slept in whenever he visited this place. Even so, his thoughts had been filled with those of the girl he had encountered.

His keen nose smelt something in the air. Something cooking. And whatever it was, it smelt delicious. His stomach growled, and he realised he needed some breakfast.

As he dressed, he hesitated before he donned the shirt of his _Hitlerjugend_ uniform. It only just occurred to him that he had only really worn this uniform for the past few years of his life, pyjamas and the rare occasion where he was allowed to dress in mufti. After a moment, he found a T-shirt with AC/DC on it. An Australian rock band, if he recalled. Jan was fond of it, much to Rip van Winkle's annoyance, as she preferred opera (and _Der Freischütz_ in particular), though the Captain seemed to enjoy it.

After getting dressed, he walked to the kitchen, where the smell was coming from, just in time to have the girl put a pair of plates on a nearby table, with toast, bacon, and fruit. The table was meant for servants in this manor, but it seemed that the girl didn't care. Considering she cooked it, it wasn't surprising. "Oh, hi. I'm sorry, I didn't know what to get you."

" _Dafür nicht_ , Fraulein," Schrödinger said. "It smells delightful."

The girl laughed a little bitterly. "You're the first person to actually compliment my cooking, to my face, anyway. My relatives never did, and anyone I cooked for on their behalf never knew I did the cooking."

Schrödinger frowned. Her name came back to him. Rose Potter. Then, an association. The Girl Who Lived. It was actually a shock to see her as one of his kind. Then again, he'd been surprised to find out he even had a kind when he came here for the first time and encountered the portrait of the Potters and Catriona. He'd always thought Doc had put him together in a lab.

She had a messy shock of black hair, framing a pretty, if a bit thin-looking face. Her eyes were like emeralds, in a way that meant describing them meant venturing dangerously into the territory of purple prose. A jagged, lightning bolt-shaped scar snaked out from beneath her fringe. And protruding from her head were a pair of cat ears.

"Would you like tea? Fruit juice? Water?"

"Water would be fine, Fraulein, as long as it doesn't have any potions in it," Schrödinger said politely. He actually felt like it, as this girl was treating him fairly nicely. Plus, her breakfast smelled nice. And so did she. He could smell her even beneath all that smell of the breakfast.

"Sorry about that, I just had to take that potion myself," Rose said. "I mean, Catriona said I should try and get you to take some, but you did it all yourself. What did you think it was?"

Schrödinger shrugged. "Vodka. Or maybe _Klarer(_ _2)_." Rip van Winkle, Zorin, and Jan Valentine had promised to get him drunk for his 14th birthday, a little over a year from now. It was probably going to be his last birthday, given the plan. Still didn't mean he wasn't curious about what it tasted like.

"Why would you want to drink at your age?" Rose asked.

"Curiosity."

"And you know what that killed. Or made vomit copiously, anyway."

" _Danke_. I needed that reminder," Schrödinger said a little bitterly.

"That's why I made breakfast. Think of it as an apology. I used that potion myself, and I didn't like it either."

* * *

They spent the time eating breakfast in silence. Schrödinger had to admit, it was pretty good. So as apologies went, it was all right. And there was a small part of him that said, _Why do you need an apology? All she did was set you free_.

After she took the plates away, Schrödinger said, "So, you're the Girl Who Lived, huh? Even Millennium are aware of you, though they wouldn't know that you're like me."

"How would a Nazi remnant know of me?"

"There are plenty of mages on the staff, Fraulein. You are famous throughout the wizarding world. You know, if you have the same affinity as I, this explains a lot about how you survived the Killing Curse," Schrödinger said.

Catriona, in the painting on the wall, said, "Actually, the powers come to the fore during childhood, not infancy. We knew she had an affinity not from her using those powers, but because of a simple testing charm. Lily used an obscure ritual to protect Rose. In exchange for sacrificing her life, Rose got protection from Voldemort. Sadly, it also made her famous."

"I wish it hadn't," Rose said bitterly. And Schrödinger was struck by the clear implication that she detested her fame.

Suddenly, a beautiful white owl flew in, with what looked like a newspaper clutched in its talons. "Hedwig!" Rose said with a smile. She had some leftover bacon, which she gave to the owl as she took the newspaper away. "She came in last night shortly after you went to bed," she explained. She started reading the newspaper, and sighed a quiet sigh of relief. "I guess they were right. I'm not being expelled."

Schrödinger got up from the table, and peered over her shoulder at what she read.

 **ROSE POTTER MISSING!**

 _After an altercation with her Muggle relatives that ended with the Obliviators and Accidental Magic Reversal Squad being called in, Rose Potter has fled her home in Surrey. It is understood, given a statement from Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, that Potter, 13, had been insulted by a Muggle aunt, ignorant of her parents' heroic sacrifice, and in a fit of anger-fuelled accidental magic, inflated her already corpulent aunt. Rose Potter then fled for parts unknown._

 _In light of the recent escape of mass-murderer Sirius Black from Azkaban, and the possibility that he may be targeting Rose Potter, the Minister has stated that any penalty for her accidental magic has been waived. Instead, he has made a plea, one which all of us at_ The Daily Prophet _make as well. Please, let us know you are safe, Rose Potter_.

There was other parts to the article, but Schrödinger didn't pay them much heed. Rose was chewing at a fingernail pensively. "I'll have to send someone a letter about Sirius Black. My parents claimed that he's innocent, that Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper."

Catriona, from her portrait, said, "I would send two such letters. One to the Minister, and the other to the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The last we heard anything, that dried-up old turd Crouch got kicked out of the DMLE, and Amelia Bones got in. She's reasonable."

Rose nodded, before she frowned. "By the way, what are Dementors? Only, according to this article, Fudge is sending them from Azkaban to Hogwarts."

Catriona paled, and Schrödinger, who admittedly didn't know that much about the wizarding world, knew enough about Dementors to be afraid. He shuddered. "Fraulein," he said quietly, "there are few ways that Cat Sìth with our affinity can die permanently. A Dementor is one of them. They feed on the happiness of those around them, sucking them from anyone nearby. Sometimes, they dredge up your worst memories. On rare occasions, they can cause those affected to suffer a fit and faint. They are vicious, evil creatures. Even Millennium didn't want anything to do with them. Magical Britain is the only country who uses them as prison guards, as they suppress magical ability. What is more, they can perform something called the Dementor's Kiss." Schrödinger shivered. "Dementors and vampires have one thing in common: they can extract the very soul of a person they feed on. But where those vampires feed on can live on as a familiar of the vampire, the Dementor's Kiss means that the Dementor digests and destroys the soul, leaving the body a husk that barely qualifies as alive. A Dementor can kill one like us if it gives us the Kiss."

"And the fools in the Ministry think they control them," Catriona said. "Instead, they made a Faustian pact. The Dementors'd be angry that Sirius managed to get by them, and they'd try to Kiss him on sight, whether the Minister says so or not."

"Okay, so definitely in the 'not good' category," Rose remarked with a weary sigh. "I guess it was too much to have a quiet school year. First Quirrellmort, and then a Basilisk. And now, this."

"Send the letters anyway. I'll help you write them. After that, you should head to Diagon Alley via the Floo." Catriona then looked at Schrödinger. "And you could do with some new experiences."

Schrödinger couldn't dispute that. Even so, he knew that, sooner or later, he would be missed at Millennium…

* * *

Which was true enough. The Doctor was nothing like the eponymous character of a certain science fiction TV series, but he did have two things in common: an unceasing thirst for knowledge, and a name he had discarded a long time ago. He was tall, thin, with blonde hair and wearing a strange set of glasses with multiple lenses like a portable, wearable phoropter(3). And he was currently jabbing a button on an electronic device repeatedly in his workshop.

A portly man wearing an immaculate suit and with glasses watched on, his golden eyes glinting with amusement. " _Well, Doc? Have we managed to bring our stray kitty back?_ "

" _No, Major. And it's not out of insolence_ ," the Doctor said with a snarl. They were both speaking in German. " _The potions I dosed him with should have responded to this. The magicals may sneer at technology for the most part, but it has its uses. No, I think somehow the potions were removed from him. Either that, or he has been captured and confined somehow. There are rituals that might be able to do so._ "

The Major tutted in irritation. " _But we need him for our plans. True, we don't need him just yet, as we are yet to even start sending our artificial vampires into England as a prelude to our invasion, but it's best to make sure we can get him. At least we have a fair guess as to where he is: he said he was heading over to the Potter Manor for a bit. We'll have to do this discreetly, to avoid attracting the attention of Hellsing before we are ready. Well, relatively discreetly._ " He turned to the tall, muscled man wearing a high-collared military coat and hat. What little could be seen of his face was tanned, stern and handsome, with snow-white hair and red eyes. " _Captain, would you kindly go and retrieve your wayward friend?_ "

The Captain nodded, but said nothing else.

" _Good, I'll make the arrangements, and if he isn't back within a week, we'll send you to England to track him down. Please be discreet, my dear Captain. Especially if by some fluke Schrödinger has ended up with the Girl Who Lived. It is doubtful she will come to the Potter Manor, but even so, this is a possibility, and if Schrödinger ends up at Hogwarts, especially with the brouhaha around Sirius Black…_ "

The Captain once more nodded mutely. He was not only one of the few people within Millennium to actually care about Schrödinger, but he was also one of the few people who'd be able to track him. And the Captain was concerned for Schrödinger. And not just because he was missing. The Captain was perhaps the only one in Millennium to not want Schrödinger to sacrifice himself. He just hoped he could find him in time…

 **CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, we have more from Schrödinger's POV, and some of Millennium's reaction to his disappearance. And the Captain's being sent to retrieve Schrödinger. But will he do so?**

 **1\. Coprolites, for those not in the know, are fossilised dung. So, Schrödinger is calling them both fossils and shit.**

 **2.** ** _Klarer_** **is a nickname for clear, cheap alcoholic spirits in Germany, particularly Korn or Doppelkorn, or some even cheaper spirits.**

 **3\. A phoropter is that thing at an optometrist's that they use to test your eyes and figure out what sort of glasses you need. I thought Doc's weird glasses were like that, so I tried tracking down what it's called. It's one of those things that, unless you're in the field, you probably don't know the name of but know what it is.**


	5. Chapter 4: Cats in Diagon Alley

**CHAPTER 4:**

 **CATS IN DIAGON ALLEY**

Amelia Bones, whom Rose was meeting in Diagon Alley, turned out to be a somewhat stern-looking witch with a monocle. However, despite an aloof and stoic demeanour, she also seemed willing to believe what Rose told her about Sirius. It was the reason why she was meeting Rose here, after all.

"It makes sense," Bones said quietly in a private room in the Leaky Cauldron. "Too much sense. Black was too much like a brother to James Potter. We just thought he was a damned good actor. Fudge is a little reluctant to budge, though. The best way for me to sell it to him is that if he succeeds, he will be making reparation for a mistake Crouch made. The problem may be his Senior Undersecretary, a rather odious woman by the name of Umbridge. She's the one who persuaded Fudge to send the Dementors to Hogwarts."

"But will this help persuade Fudge to recall them?"

"We'll have to wait and see, Miss Potter," Bones said. "It seems you have stumbled across something pertinent by luck. But I need to ask that you don't go looking for Black, regardless. Even if he is innocent, the exposure to the Dementors at Azkaban cannot be healthy. He may be deranged, and if he is seeking out Peter Pettigrew, he may be single-mindedly focused on getting him."

Rose nodded. "According to my parents' portrait, he's also an Animagus, a rat. That's one of the possible ways he might have escaped after what happened. Assuming he's alive."

Bones nodded in her own turn, before saying, "The Minister believed Black to be after you. Many eyewitnesses claimed that they heard Black muttering, 'he's at Hogwarts', though Fudge believes they misheard Black, and thought he meant 'SHE'S at Hogwarts', as many believe Black would try to finish what he began with your parents. But Black may be after Pettigrew instead. If he kills Pettigrew, then the one man who could prove his innocence will die."

"He was in Little Whinging, in Surrey, and he's a dog Animagus. Pretty big dog as well, big and black."

"Like a Grim?"

"A Grim?"

"A Grim is a large black dog, said to be an omen of death. Muggles have legends of various kinds, like the Barghest of Yorkshire, or the Padfoot, or the Cù Sith. Some even use the term a Grim, mostly for these dogs that haunt churchyards. In Magical Britain, they're generally known as a Grim. Arthur Conan Doyle used the legends as the basis for his novel _Hound of the Baskervilles_ , and there's rumours that something like a Grim is a weapon used by the Hellsing Organisation's chief vampire hunter. Oh, you might not have heard of that. Hellsing is…"

"My parents' portrait told me. They're a vampire-hunting organisation, right?"

"Yes, they are. They have a somewhat fractious relationship with the Ministry, partly due to our attitudes. I've had a better working relationship with its current leader, Sir Integra Hellsing, than my predecessors have had. Then again, considering that she's only a young woman, I'm hardly surprised."

"A young woman? Then why is she called Sir?"

"I've never asked. She's certainly capable, despite her young age. As are you, apparently, according to my niece. Susan is in Hufflepuff, as you may know, and she heard rumours about you putting an end to that whole debacle with the Chamber of Secrets, as well as exposing Lockhart, though why Dumbledore agreed to hire the man, I have no idea. He's certainly handsome, and writes a good story, but even so, I had suspicions. And that whole business with Quirrell…I sometimes have to wonder if Dumbledore's façade of senility is not actually a façade. Not to mention Fudge overriding me to send Rubeus Hagrid to Azkaban, as a precaution." Bones shook her head, before saying, "My apologies, I just get frustrated at the way our world works. Miss Potter, I need to ask you to remain here at the Leaky Cauldron until it is time for you to go back to Hogwarts, or else use the Floo to go to the Potter Manor you have been staying at. By the way, that boy you were with…can you trust him?"

"…I've only just met him. He was under the control of a rather dark group, apparently. But Schrödinger seems all right now."

"Is he magical?"

"Of course." Rose had discovered, innate abilities as a Cat Sìth with void affinity aside, Schrödinger did have magic, with Millennium having suppressed his magic, beyond his void affinity abilities. She intended to bring him to Hogwarts, and had discreetly messaged McGonagall to that effect. She agreed to enrol him as a student, but Rose would be responsible for making sure he was up to speed on magic. He'd proven a quick study in most things. Indeed, they both managed to learn the special charm that concealed their ears, replacing them with human ones. He was off getting himself a wand.

"Well then, I'll speak to you later," Bones said. "Thank you for your information, Miss Potter. I wish you the best of luck this year."

"Given the last two years? I'll need it," Rose muttered not quite under her breath, following Madam Bones out. They weren't staying at Diagon Alley, though Ron and Hermione were apparently coming here before long. She just hoped that Schrödinger hadn't gotten into any trouble…

* * *

As it happened, Schrödinger had. He had gotten lost on the way back from Ollivander's, and had wandered down Knockturn Alley by accident. By the time he realised what had happened, he was currently being cornered by a group of thugs, one of whom looked like a werewolf. Not a Loup-Garou like his friend the Captain, but one of the ones who was infectious…and a mangy-looking one to boot. He wasn't sure whether he should use his powers to get out of here, return to Rose, as it might cause comment.

"I smell a kitty cat," the werewolf growled, grinning. "A Cat Sìth…you'll make a nice meal."

But even as Schrödinger prepared to flee, he heard a deep, resonant, cultured, and mocking voice come from behind them. "Whereas you, well, you wouldn't make a nice meal yourself, Fenrir. I mean, even those places where they'd serve dog would chuck you into a bin."

The werewolf whirled, and paled. "Alucard!"

Schrödinger paled himself. Was this really Alucard? He stared past at the tall, imposing figure of a extremely pale man in a red coat, over a mixture of Victorian and modern fashions. The man's thin, cruelly handsome face was framed by long black hair, the eyes hidden by tinted glasses, a wide-brimmed hat topping it all off. And there was the aura of extreme cruelty, power, and darkness. No mistaking it, it was Alucard.

"In the flesh. And really, Fenrir, old boy, if you're going to eat pussy, there's a nice little brothel I can recommend that caters to werewolves…though if you aren't gone in the next ten seconds, I will ensure that you won't ever get the opportunity to go there. Tick-tock, tick tock, Fenrir."

Fenrir and one of the other wizards were smart enough to rush away, but the remaining one sneered, and snarled, "You don't scare me!" He whipped out a wand, and shot a sickly green spell at Alucard. The vampire toppled and fell. "So much for the great Alucard," sneered the wizard.

But even as he turned his attention back to Schrödinger, the body of Alucard lurched back to its feet. He then grabbed the wizard and spun him around to face him. "If you wanted to commit suicide by me, all you had to do was ask. After all, I'm feeling rather peckish," Alucard said to the now-terrified wizard with a grin filled with fangs. Then, he opened up his mouth, and bit down on the man's neck.

Schrödinger stood, transfixed in horror, as Alucard drank the man dry, his very body disappearing into darkness, before that faded. Everyone else stared in horror as well, the people who weren't running for their lives. An Auror, who happened to be nearby, whipped out his wand and yelled, "Get on your knees!"

"Dawlish, I'm not your mother last night!" Alucard retorted(1). "Is this about that time I nearly shot you while dealing with that ghoul? Seriously, Dawlish, are you that annoyed about that?"

"You're a dark creature. Worse, you just killed someone right in front of me!"

"Dawlish, Dawlish, Dawlish, he used the Killing Curse on me, in front of others. Okay, you know how that song and dance goes, but seriously, he would have gone to Azkaban if I let him live. If you want, think of me consuming his blood and turning him into a familiar to be a mercy. No? Well, Clause 97 of the agreement written up between the Hellsing Organisation and the DMLE states that if some schmuck is stupid enough to cast a Killing Curse on me, then he deserves to become my next meal. Not exactly that phrasing, mind, but even so…" Alucard then grinned. "Besides, it's so _cute_ that you think you have a chance against me."

Schrödinger shivered, and he saw that Dawlish was shaking, before he eventually lowered his wand. "The Minister will hear of this outrage, Alucard!"

"Oh yes, my killing a man who tried to kill me, and was going to do something foul to this kid. How outrageous, I actually saved someone. Run along, Dawlish. I hear that you're still struggling to find Sirius Black. I'm so bored, I could get in on that action."

As Dawlish scurried away, Alucard then turned to Schrödinger. The young Cat Sìth quailed. He was here, right near Alucard, and he wasn't ready. He no longer had the indoctrination of Millennium to help him here. True, if Alucard just killed him, he could will himself back into existence. But if the vampire decided to drink his blood…

Schrödinger had realised a few things over his brief time at Potter Manor living with Rose Potter. The first was that he actually liked the fraulein. She actually treated him like a person, albeit as an annoyance, but that was better than most of Millennium. Plus, she was a pretty good cook. The second was that, in the end, he didn't actually want to die permanently, even if it was to rid the world of a monster, the one currently standing right in front of him. It would be worse than that time when he had wanted to see the _Titanic_ , and that hadn't ended well(2). A living death, teetering perpetually on the edge of oblivion. The third was that he found England more interesting than being stuck at Millennium's base. And, of course, there was the knowledge that he wasn't alone from the world. He had felt isolated a little from the others, thinking he was one of Doc's experiments. Well, he was, but Doc had merely indoctrinated him (or should that be in-Doc-trinated?), not actually created him.

His reverie was broken when Alucard said to him, "So, why is it that I smell that old Loup-Garou on you? A Cat Sìth…but with the stink of those fools I thought I vanquished back in Warsaw. Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself, little cat?"

Schrödinger merely stared at him, before realising he wanted to be anything other than here. He closed his eyes, visualised where he needed to be…and leapt.

* * *

Alucard blinked as the Cat Sìth vanished. It wasn't invisibility or anything like that, or else he'd be able to smell him. The boy had simply _disappeared_. He frowned. Then, after a moment, he extruded one of his familiars, not a person or Baskerville, but one of the centipedes that were part of him when he unleashed his restraints.

He commanded it to keep an eye out for the Cat Sìth in Diagon Alley, starting with the Leaky Cauldron, which he sent it to, having it change into a fly first (albeit one with an airspeed that made most flies look like snails). With any luck, he hadn't gotten far. He wanted to know why exactly he smelt of the Captain.

It soon found the boy in the Leaky Cauldron, and as he walked through Diagon Alley, he listened in…

* * *

Rose was astonished to find Schrödinger appearing just as she walked down the stairs to the pub proper. "Schrödinger?" she asked.

"Fraulein, it was him. It was Alucard," Schrödinger said quietly, shivering. "He's here in Diagon Alley. He knows about me, he…"

"Shush," Rose said quietly, gently drawing him into a hug. The first time she had done so for him. But the shaken boy looked like he needed it. "It's okay. If you got here, he won't know where you are. Look, once we have some lunch and see my friends, we'll go, okay? And we'll definitely leave if he comes after us." She didn't notice a fly flying in through a nearby window, and then transforming into a centipede. "Anyway, do you want to go back to Millennium?"

"…I'm not sure, Fraulein. Millennium's all I've ever known. But…this is all very new. All very exciting. I like it, Fraulein. I don't want to die. I don't want to throw this all away. Not for the Major or Doc."

"That's good, Schrödinger. Come on, let's have some lunch. Hopefully, we won't get stared at."

"Good luck. I mean, you ARE the Girl Who Lived, after all, Fraulein…"

* * *

Alucard smiled when he heard this. So, it seemed that his quarry was named Schrödinger. What was more, it seemed like he had defected from Millennium, or at least was currently away from them. Presumably, Millennium was what the Major called his little operation: he had no doubt that Schrödinger was talking of that fat SS Major Alucard had encountered in Warsaw.

And Schrödinger had fallen in with the Girl Who Lived, Rose Potter. She seemed aware of Millennium, and what was more, didn't want Schrödinger to go back. And if the senses of his familiar where any indication, she was a Cat Sìth too.

Alucard chuckled to himself as he prepared to leave Diagon Alley, and head back to the Hellsing Organisation. This looked like it was going to be interesting indeed…

 **CHAPTER 4 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **You've read the first three chapters already in** ** _The Cauldron_** **. Well, unless you haven't read them. Here's a fourth, which marks the end of the debut of this story. Yes, I've probably introduced Schrödinger to Alucard a bit too early, but still, I wanted to bring in Alucard early on in the story. And yes, he'll be a blend of his canon self and Abridged self.**

 **1\. Alucard says this (minus Dawlish) to the SWAT team in Episode 3 of** ** _Hellsing Ultimate Abridged_** **after they tell him to get on his knees. That joke cracks me up every time. There's something about Curtis 'Takahata101' Arnott's delivery that just sells it.**

 **2\. This is in reference to a** ** _Hellsing_** **one-shot fanfic called** ** _Unsinkable_** **by AmputeeTrainee. In it, Schrödinger becomes curious about the** ** _Titanic_** **after seeing it in an old Goebbels propaganda film. Unfortunately, because he thinks about it too much, he ends up where the** ** _Titanic_** **is currently, under the ocean, about 12000 feet down, and understandably dies, horribly and repeatedly, until he's able to get his mind off the ship and think of getting home. I actually decided this story was part of my own personal fanon, as this seems like something Schrödinger may have done.**


	6. Chapter 5: Friends and Foes

**CHAPTER 5:**

 **FRIENDS AND FOES**

"I'm amazed you weren't expelled, Rose," Hermione Granger said as they walked through Diagon Alley to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour a couple of hours later.

"So am I, frankly, though I was more worried about being arrested. The Ministry's waiving that, given this whole mess with Sirius Black," Rose said. "And I asked Madam Bones to look into removing that black mark from Dobby last year."

"Bloody hell," Ron murmured. "If I did that, they'd have to dig me up first. Mum'd kill me."

Rose chuckled. While she got along more with Ginny than Ron, the truth was that Ron was her first friend at Hogwarts. It took a little while for Hermione to get there, though it helped they shared the same dorm, though it took the incident with the Troll to truly solidify that. And while Ron had his moments, Rose did trust him. He just needed to be told, a little bluntly, that she wasn't interested in being his girlfriend. He seemed to have put ambitions of being the Girl Who Lived's boyfriend on the backburner, thankfully.

"So, how did you meet Schrödinger, Rose?" Hermione asked.

"Allow me, Fraulein," Schrödinger said. "Rose was surprised by Sirius Black, and Apparated to what turned out to be Potter Manor. I had been squatting there for some time. I had run away from home, you see." A bit of a lie, that last part.

"There was a portrait of my parents, they claim Black is innocent," Rose said. "That's why I spoke to Madam Bones."

"Wait, what? Black is innocent?" Ron demanded.

"Yeah, it's a long story. Anyway, Schrödinger has agreed to attend Hogwarts. I had to help get him up to speed with his subjects. I might need your help with that later, Hermione."

As Hermione looked over at Schrödinger, a glint in her eyes, Ron winced, and said, conspiratorially, to Schrödinger, "You're doomed, mate. Just sayin'."

"I am not averse to a little learning, Herr Weasley," Schrödinger said.

"It's never a _little_ learning with her," Ron said.

* * *

They had an ice-cream at the parlour, Schrödinger fobbing off Hermione's questions, though he got some kudos from her when he said he had escaped from a Neo-Nazi group. A slight lie: there was nothing 'Neo' about Millennium, being comprised mostly of those who had fought during the Second World War. As their dessert came to a close, Schrödinger frowned when he noted the bulging book bags near Hermione's feet. "Um, Fraulein, why do you have so many books?"

"I'm taking more subjects than the others, aren't I?" Hermione retorted. She then listed a bunch of subjects that made Schrödinger's head spin.

"Hermione, will you have enough time to sleep, let alone eat?" Rose asked, looking as dazed as Ron did and Schrödinger felt.

"And studying Muggle Studies seems rather redundant for being a Muggleborn, Fraulein," Schrödinger said. "You won't learn anything new, other than wizarding _Quatsch_. I will bet you that they probably do not know that man landed on the Moon in 1969."

"Schrödinger, don't be stupid. Muggles didn't land on the Moon…did they?" Ron asked.

All three of the others present facepalmed. " _Verdammt Scheisse_ ," Schrödinger groaned.

"Schrödinger, what would your mother say if she heard you speaking like that?" Hermione rebuked.

"She is dead, Fraulein," Schrödinger said archly, "so I do not think she will be capable of objecting."

"Sorry," Hermione said shamefacedly.

" _Mach dir keine Sorgen_ …I mean, don't worry. She died when I was too young to remember her," Schrödinger said. Then, returning to his remnants of his sundae, he remarked, "These ice creams are rather enjoyable, _nicht wahr?_ "

They all nodded, and Hermione changed the subject. "Actually, I've got ten Galleons left. It's my birthday in September, and my parents gave me money to buy a present. I'm going to get an owl. I mean, you have Hedwig, Rose, and you have Errol, Ron…"

"Errol's the family owl," Ron said. "All I've got is Scabbers, and I need to have him checked over." He then pulled a rather fat pet rat out of his pocket, albeit one who seemed to have gotten thinner lately.

Schrödinger thought there was something…odd about that rat, leaving aside the missing toe. Something he could smell with his senses. Other than the fact that he was a catboy, and this was a rat, and feline instinct was tugging at his mind. He noticed that Rose was looking at him in the same manner. "Didn't Egypt agree with him, Ron?" Rose asked.

"No."

"Well, the Magical Menagerie's nearby. We'll have them take a look. And Hermione can get her owl."

"What about Schrödinger?" Hermione asked.

"I don't need a pet, Fraulein," Schrödinger said. "I don't want an owl, as I have nobody to correspond with, and I have no liking for toads. Perhaps a cat, if one catches my eye."

He noticed Rose suppressing a giggle at the thought, the irony of a catboy having a cat as a pet. Schrödinger would have preferred a dog, though. Despite being, effectively, a wolf, the Captain got along with him.

* * *

He didn't know it, but his comment had been overheard by the familiar of Alucard, who relayed it to its master. It had been tailing Schrödinger and Rose Potter on his orders. And Alucard was overcome by an impish notion. This way, he could keep an eye on Schrödinger when he went to Hogwarts. He put more energy into the familiar…

* * *

Sometime afterwards, they were heading back to the Leaky Cauldron. Rose had to tut a little at the brouhaha that had happened: a cat had tried attacking Scabbers while he was being tended to. Rose had followed Ron out to fetch Scabbers, and found him under a bin outside the Quidditch shop. When they returned to the store, Hermione had bought herself the same ginger cat (which had a rather squashed face and was named Crookshanks) that had attacked Scabbers, cooing over him. Ron was far from impressed, and Rose thought the cat rather ugly.

However, to her surprise, Schrödinger had a cat as well, or rather, a small kitten, completely black in colour, with red eyes that almost seemed to glow. Apparently the kitten had meowed at Schrödinger rather too cutely for him to resist (though he didn't have a name for the kitten yet). Ron had glowered at them both, and told Schrödinger and Hermione to keep their respective cats away from Scabbers.

There was something bothering Rose, though, and she didn't know what it was. Something about Scabbers. It had been bothering her since the ice-cream parlour.

It nearly went out of her head when she saw the other Weasleys there. It wasn't until she saw the newspaper that Arthur was reading that she got an inkling. "Mr Weasley, can I read that?"

"Sure," Arthur said. "They still haven't caught him yet."

"I doubt they will," Rose said. "He's innocent."

"What?" Molly Weasley demanded.

"It's a long story. I've already told Madam Bones what I found out," Rose said. "I know he's my godfather, though. And I know, innocent or not, I shouldn't go near him. Apparently Dementor exposure isn't a good thing, especially not for that long."

"Sounds like…" Fred began.

"Something of a story," George concluded. "But how…"

"…Did you meet this guy?" Fred asked, indicating Schrödinger.

"That is also something of a story," Schrödinger said. "You must be the infamous Weasley twins. Rose has told me much about you."

"All good, we hope?" George asked.

Schrödinger grinned. Oh, he was in familiar territory here. "Before I escaped from those who had me prisoner, I was the top prankster in that organisation. _Herren_ , I throw down the gauntlet."

Molly Weasley looked at Schrödinger. "Now, see here! Do NOT encourage these two in any way, shape, or form!" she snapped.

"Frau Weasley, do they have a mute control for you?" Schrödinger asked, cleaning out his ear and wincing. "I may need hearing protection around you."

As Molly gaped at the impertinence of the catboy, Rose hissed in Schrödinger's ear, "She's a nice person, but if you annoy her…"

"We will come to your funeral and honour you, O Audacious One," George said.

"Rose, how did you come to be with such an…insolent little boy?" Molly asked.

"Long story short, he was a stray who came to the house," Rose said, smirking at Schrödinger. "If he gets too much out of line, I'll neuter him."

Hermione and Molly both looked aghast and mortified, their mouths wide open in shock, while Ron, the twins, and even Ginny were laughing. Arthur was wincing along with Schrödinger, while Percy looked distinctly unamused. Then again, Percy Weasley had no sense of humour known to human science. He was probably Hogwarts' biggest agelast(1).

"Young lady, I will not hear such language out of you, even in jest!" Molly said, once she had recovered her senses.

"Mrs Weasley, with all due respect, and I mean that you are due quite a bit, you're not my mother. She's long dead. Anyway, it was a joke."

"Fraulein, do not joke about that," Schrödinger said with a wince.

* * *

Alucard was roaring his head off with laughter as he heard Rose Potter's remark. So much so that, as he entered the office of his Master, Sir Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing, she looked askance at him, and you could tell that she was worried about potential pranks. "Alucard…" she said in a warning tone.

"Sorry, sorry, Master, I just…I'm just listening to some comedy."

"I thought we confiscated your Walkman and your tapes of the Goon Show(2)," Integra said. She was in her early twenties, though she carried herself with a poise that made her seem a decade older. Although she had blonde hair and blue eyes, she also had darker skin than one would expect with someone with such hair and eyes, a testament to her Indian mother. She wore glasses and a severe suit. And an even more severe expression. "I got an official complaint from the Ministry again. Auror John Dawlish witnessed you eating someone."

"Who cast the Killing Curse at me, and who was in the company of Fenrir Greyback. Neither of which is the mark of an upstanding citizen," Alucard said, holding up a finger. "I quoted Clause 97 at him."

"Even so, our relationship with the Ministry of Magic is tenuous at best. Incidents like this do not help, given that they happen outside the aegis of your hunts. And with the DMLE hunting Sirius Black after his escape from Azkaban..."

"Master, I was doing my good deed for the day. The idiot I killed, along with Greyback and another redshirt who had the sense to piss off, was about to attack a possibly innocent bystander. I say possibly innocent for a few reasons. Reasons that I think may interest you."

Integra sighed. "Continue."

"Firstly, the incident was in Knockturn Alley, which already makes things dubious, though I think the boy wandered there by accident. Secondly, the boy is a Cat Sìth. Thirdly, I could smell the smell of some old…acquaintances on them. You do know about the little expedition to Warsaw Walter and I were sent on during the Second World War? He certainly smelled of that old Loup-Garou I fought then. He also spoke with a German accent when I listened to him later, for he disappeared without a trace, literally, as if he teleported. I managed to find him at the Leaky Cauldron using one of my familiars, who is still with him even as I speak. And he has fallen into very interesting company, who is also a Cat Sìth like he is. The boy goes by the name of Schrödinger. And his fellow Cat Sìth? None other than the Girl Who Lived herself, Rose Potter."

Integra blinked as she processed that. "Rose Potter…is not human? And she's in the company of someone who was with those Nazis?"

" _Was_ being the operative term. He seems reluctant to go back. I've therefore taken the liberty of shaping the familiar I sent to spy on them into a pet cat. I had to do some pretty deft and quick hypnotising to make the store owner believe the familiar was part of the store's stock. Anyway, I now have my own spy amongst them, one I can take control of and shape into myself, if need be."

"Alucard, you know the Ministry of Magic will really suffer a major conniption if it's discovered one of your familiars were at Hogwarts, to say nothing about Dumbledore's reaction. I know you two have good reason to be at each other's throats…"

"He's just sore that I ate so many of Grindlewald's supporters, and when he tried to hex me, I let Walter re-enact the _I've Got No Strings_ number from _Pinocchio_ using his wires on Albus. He should get over himself. Anyway, seriously, who can they get to stop me? Michael McDoesn'texist?"

A faint smirk touched Integra's lips briefly. "Even so, Alucard, please remember that we do not need a scene. Keep an eye on this Cat Sìth by all means, and the Girl Who Lived. But be careful and be discreet. Alien concepts to you, I am sure, and there's a very good dictionary in the library you can read if you need them explained."

Alucard nodded, before he blinked. "Oh. Ohoh. This is interesting."

"What is?"

"It seems that young Rose has stumbled across an interesting secret…"

* * *

"Son of a bitch," Rose hissed. She and Schrödinger had headed back to their rooms when she realised something. She beckoned Schrödinger inside her room when she thought about it.

"What's the matter, Fraulein?" Schrödinger asked, still cradling his new kitten.

"…The rat. Scabbers…he's missing a toe. One of his front toes."

" _Ja_. So?"

"Peter Pettigrew was a rat Animagus…and all they found of him was a single finger."

Schrödinger blinked as he made the connection. " _Hundesohn_ ," he muttered. "Your friend's pet is Pettigrew. The missing toe is where he cut off a finger. What're you going to do about it?"

"Nothing, yet. If we try to catch him too soon, he might get away, and I'd only annoy Ron. Especially if I'm wrong. I'll send a letter to Madam Bones. She'll probably have to come to Hogwarts." She went over and got parchment and pen.

Suddenly, the kitten Schrödinger was holding wriggled away from him, and jumped out the window. "No!"

"He'll be back," Rose said. "I hope…"

* * *

Later that night, Amelia Bones, who was making preparations to head to the Leaky Cauldron first thing in the morning, got back into her office, only to realise something was wrong. Very wrong indeed. Someone had been in here. And they had left a man tied to a chair, pissing himself with fear, a man who looked like he had lost a lot of weight recently. A man she recognised as an older Peter Pettigrew.

Tied to the man was a tag, like one would find on a wrapped gift. It had the following.

 _To Madam Bones,_

 _An early Christmas present for you,_

 _Hugs and kisses,_

 _Alucard, the Crimson Fucker_

 _PS. He's a rat Animagus. I've bound his ability for now. You can deal with it later._

Bones sighed quietly to herself, before she went over to the Floo, and called for some Aurors. This was going to be a long night…

 **CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Pettigrew's been captured, and that means the story is over, right? Nope. Besides the fact that Sirius is still out there, and the Captain is around, there's also what Dumbledore has in mind for Rose. And, of course, Alucard's taken an interest…**

 **Review-answering time! I'm a bit annoyed here. Rose is not actually human. Her species is not a cat/human hybrid, genetically anyway, any more than a mermaid is the result of humans and fish having sex. They're a type of magical cat creature in this story. In this story (but not in canon, or in** ** _Haemophilia_** **), Schrödinger wasn't created in a lab.**

 **Darklink1011** **: Sadly, Schrödinger is the only one. Almost all of Millennium are there willingly.**

 **1\. An agelast is someone who doesn't smile or laugh. The things you learn through** ** _QI_** **…**

 **2\. Brits will probably get that, but for those not in the know,** ** _The Goon Show_** **was a famous radio comedy series from the 50s starring Spike Milligan, Harry Secoombe, and Peter Sellers.**


	7. Chapter 6: Dracula and Dementors

**CHAPTER 6:**

 **DRACULA AND DEMENTORS**

Rose and her friends woke up to two not-unrelated incidents. The first was that Ron was lamenting the fact that Scabbers was gone, and had been replaced with a tawny owl. Attached to the cage it was in was a note.

 _Sorry about nicking Scabbers, but I found out he was a Death Eater by the name of Peter Pettigrew. Who had been sleeping in your bed. Have fun with that thought, of a grown man sleeping in your bed for all these years._

 _Anyway, I had a bit of fun with him before I took him to the DMLE. As you no doubt would prefer that you had a pet rather than none, allow me to compensate you with this tawny owl. They're omens of bad luck, apparently, so I'm sure you'll love it._

 _Hugs and kisses,_

 _Alucard, the Crimson Fucker_

"Who's Alucard?" Hermione asked. She noticed that everyone else but her seemed to recognise the name, as they gathered in Ron's room.

"Haven't you ever heard of the Hellsing Organisation, Hermione?" Ron asked, looking ill at the thought of Scabbers actually being a grown man, and sharing a bed with him, something Percy did as well.

"No. Should I?"

"It's a vampire-hunting organisation," Arthur explained. "It was founded by a Squib called Abraham van Helsing about a century ago."

"Abraham…wait, are you telling me that the book _Dracula_ was based on real events?!" Hermione demanded.

"Not just that…it's rumoured that Alucard is actually none other than Count Dracula himself. He's their chief vampire hunter," Percy explained, looking pale, though how much of that was due to Scabbers turning out to be a Death Eater (and thus sleeping in his own bed), and how much of that was due to Alucard's reputation, Rose didn't know.

Hermione blinked. "Alucard…that's just 'Dracula' in reverse. Not a very original name."

"Fraulein…" Schrödinger said. "I encountered Alucard in Diagon Alley before you two arrived. His name may not be original, but his power is very real. Vampires can absorb the souls of those they consume. It means that a vampire with enough souls at his command is effectively immune to the Killing Curse, simply because he can use those souls as shields."

"I know, I've read that, but…how many souls does he have?"

"The people I was with were very interested in Alucard…they think he has over three million, many of which include the army he once commanded when he was Vlad Tepes. Alucard is probably the most powerful vampire in the world. He is a monster, Fraulein. While he is bound to the Hellsing family, and has been ever since his defeat at the hands of Abraham van Helsing, the truth is, he probably assents to being their vampire hunter out of boredom more than anything else."

"…Boredom?" Ron asked incredulously.

" _Ja_ , Herr Weasley. He has lived for…five and a half centuries. I am sure he would run out of things to do to amuse himself."

* * *

At Hellsing, Alucard snickered to himself as he heard this conversation through the link to his familiar: Schrödinger's assessment was actually pretty accurate _…_

* * *

"Bloody hell," Ron said in a faint voice. And his mother and Hermione didn't rebuke him for his language. "So, he's like an evil vampire version of Fred and George?"

"Thank you, Ron," Rose said archly. "I had gotten tired of sleeping at night…"

* * *

The second thing was _The Daily Prophet_ , which was already trumpeting the capture and interrogation of Pettigrew. The _Prophet_ was harping on about Alucard's heavy-handedness a bit, but the tone towards Sirius Black had taken an about-face.

Even so, the Ministry supplied cars to take them to King's Cross. Sirius Black's innocence was no longer in doubt for the most part…but his sanity was. The _Prophet_ pointed out he may be a danger to others simply because of his long term exposure to Dementors, who, incidentally, were still being sent to Hogwarts as a precautionary measure.

"Umbridge's probably sent them anyway," Arthur Weasley muttered. "Dementors hate being thwarted, and she panders to them. Awful woman…"

* * *

After they got on the train, Rose, Ron, Hermione, Schrödinger and Ginny met Luna, and they got into a compartment that had one other person: a rather ragged-looking man that Rose could smell something odd. Like…a wolf…and the Moon…though she didn't know how she could think of it that way. And it seemed familiar somehow.

"So, why are you named Schrödinger, anyway?" Hermione asked as they put their trunks up on the racks. "Are you any relation to the physicist?"

" _Nein_ , Fraulein. I was taken from my family at a young age." Schrödinger looked at Rose. "Do you trust them, Fraulein?"

"…With my life."

Schrödinger then looked at the others. "What I am about to show you does not go beyond this compartment." He then undid the charm on his appearance, as did Rose. All of them, bar Luna and the asleep man, gaped in astonishment at the cat ears. Luna merely smiled knowingly.

"You're a Cat Sìth," Hermione whispered. "You're both Cat Sìth."

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered. He seemed to know about them.

"And not just any Cat Sìth," Schrödinger said. "We share the rarest power of any of our kind: nothingness, or potentiality. We are both everywhere, and nowhere. All we have to do is visualise a destination, and we are there, Apparition wards or not. I was named for Schrödinger's cat because I am like a self-aware Schrödinger's cat that can survive a lethal attack, as long as my will insists that I am alive. Rose shares that ability."

"What's Schrödinger's cat?" Ginny asked.

"It's a Muggle thought experiment," Luna said. "You put a cat into a box, and arrange it so that, after a set period of time, the cat has a 50-50 chance of being dead or alive. But according to a certain interpretation of quantum physics, the cat is both dead and alive until you open the box."

"She's barmy," Ron said.

"No, Ron, that's actually one of the more sensible things I've heard her say," Hermione said. "She just described the Schrödinger's cat thought experiment pretty well. I didn't know you read quantum physics, Luna."

"Why not? God plays dice with the universe. Well, it's more like a version of Yahtzee(1)."

"Annnnd she's back," Hermione muttered.

As Rose put the charm back on herself, and then Schrödinger, hiding their ears, she said, "You know this has to be kept secret, right?"

"Of course," Ginny said, nodding, as did the others. Trying to change the subject, she looked at the ragged man, wearing oft-repaired robes. "Who is this guy?"

"Professor RJ Lupin," Hermione said. "It says so on the trunk up there."

"Remus Lupin?" Rose asked.

"You know him?" Ron asked.

"I know _of_ him. The portrait of my parents told me about him." She decided not to mention the fact that he was a werewolf to them. That explained the smell of wolf and Moon, though. "Maybe he's our next Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. I mean, that's the only vacancy, right?"

"He looks like a good hex could finish him off," Ron remarked.

* * *

During the journey, Ron reminisced about Hogsmeade, which had Rose cursing the Dursleys for holding the bloody permission slip as a good behaviour bond while Marge was around, Vernon never signing it. She could, however, possibly leave Hogwarts for Hogsmeade with her newfound abilities. She'd need the Invisibility Cloak, though, to remain inconspicuous.

As the journey continued, and the sky outside grew darker from stormclouds, very little happened of note, at least until the afternoon, when Malfoy appeared with his two cronies. "Well, if it isn't Potty and the Weasel." He then looked at Schrödinger. "And the foreigner."

"My name is Schrödinger."

"I've never heard of a wizarding family with that name," Draco remarked snidely.

"I was adopted. Blonde hair, aquiline face, a complete _Scheisskopf_ …Rose has told me about you. You must be Draco Malfoy." Schrödinger then sniffed. "Ah, the heady scent of _Inzucht_."

"What did he say?!" Draco demanded.

"He can smell your pure blood," Hermione said, trying to keep a straight face. Schrödinger had claimed to smell Malfoy's inbreeding, she would later tell them. She wouldn't translate _Scheisskopf_ , though.

"Of course!" Malfoy said, puffing up with pride. "I heard your father finally got some gold, Weasley. Did your mother die of shock?"

As Ron and Ginny made to stand up, Lupin snorted in his sleep. "Who's that?" Malfoy asked.

"The new DADA teacher. You were saying?" Rose asked.

Malfoy promptly decided to leave, just in case. He had just enough sense of self-preservation not to make trouble in front of a teacher, not unless he could get away with it.

As the terrible trio left, Rose sighed. "He'd fit right in at Millennium."

"Yes. Right into one of Doc's morgue freezers," Schrödinger remarked. "And that is a best-case scenario. He is more like one of the Old Men of the Opera House than a true member of Millennium."

"Old Men of the what?" Hermione asked.

After a moment, Schrödinger said, "I wasn't the only supernatural creature in Millennium, Fraulein. Millennium is mostly composed of artificial vampires. However, our nominal leaders are still human. They are old Nazi soldiers, who want to establish the Fourth Reich. But the actual leader, the Major, and his followers…they want something rather simpler: pure destruction, one last glorious war, like a _Götterdämmerung_."

"Sorry, what?" Ron asked.

"He means 'twilight of the gods'," Hermione said. "It's a mistranslation of 'Ragnarok', though in essence, it means the same thing. A massive, ruinous clash between gods. That's horrible. And you used to be part of that?"

"I had a lot of potions in me to secure my loyalty, Fraulein. But Millennium was all I have known for all my life. I want to start afresh."

"I hope you're sincere about that, Schrödinger," Hermione said, glowering at the catboy. "Because Rose was one of my first friends at Hogwarts, even one of my first friends, period. You do anything to hurt her, and I will carry out her threat to fix you. And if your ability allows you to restore yourself, I'll just do it again. And again."

Ron winced again, as did Schrödinger. "Mental, she is," the redhead muttered.

* * *

As the day progressed, and got darker and drearier, Rose got a feeling of dread. It all culminated when the train slowed to a halt. Suddenly, the lights went out, though Rose found that she could see in the dark far better than she could before. Ron went to the window, and managed to see what looked like people coming on board.

Neville came in, and nearly tripped all over everyone. The ensuing questions came to a halt when Lupin, who had woken in the commotion, suddenly hissed, "Quiet!" in a hoarse voice. The ragged man then summoned up flames in his hand, his grey eyes alert and wary. "Stay here, I'll check what's going on."

But as he made for the door, it slid open, to reveal a cloaked, hooded figure. A hand protruded from the tattered cloak, something like a drowned corpse. But as if noticing Rose's scrutiny, it withdrew suddenly, and then, she heard a great, rattling breath, causing a great chill to enter her body, then the screams began…

…and suddenly, she was on the floor of the compartment, along with Schrödinger, being gently shaken. "Rose!" Lupin hissed urgently. He was the one trying to waken her. Ron, meanwhile, was slapping Schrödinger's face gently.

"I'm awake, I'm awake," Rose gasped. She felt like shit, like she had some sort of bad illness. "What was that, who screamed?"

"Nobody screamed, Rose," Hermione said.

"The screaming was in her head," Luna said, looking shaken, her eyes wide. "I heard screaming in my head too."

As Schrödinger roused, Lupin fished around in his robes. "That was a Dementor of Azkaban," he said, fishing out a bar of chocolate, before snapping it into pieces and handing them out. "Eat them. It's a remedy for Dementor exposure. Excuse me, I'll need to speak with the driver."

"What happened?" Schrödinger asked woozily.

As Rose bit into her chocolate, and felt the symptoms fade away, chased by a warmth, Hermione said, "That thing…it stood there, looked around, and…well, you and Schrödinger started to have a fit or something. Luna nearly went the same way, as did Ginny."

Ron nodded. "You went sort of rigid, fell out of your seat and started twitching."

"And then, Professor Lupin stepped over you and told the Dementor ' _None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go._ ' The Dementor didn't leave, so Lupin cast some sort of spell at it, like some sort of silvery thing."

"The Patronus Charm," Luna said, looking a little more chipper now that she had some chocolate. "It's the only spell known to repel Dementors. Very difficult to cast. But Dementors…they suck the happiness from their surroundings, and bring up our worst memories." Her eyes flickered over to Rose. "Maybe you saw your nightmare again, Rose. Of the night your parents died."

"For me, it was the _Titanic_ ," Schrödinger said, shuddering.

"What does the _Titanic_ have to do with anything?" Hermione asked.

"I wanted to go there once, Fraulein. This was before I could control my powers. And with the _Titanic_ 12000 feet under the Atlantic, and my surviving each of my deaths…imagine being drowned and crushed, over and over again, before my mind could get off the _Titanic_ , and back onto home. That was the worst experience of my life, Fraulein."

Hermione put a hand to her mouth. "I'm sorry, Schrödinger, I had no idea…that must've been horrible."

Neville looked at them, confused, before Rose shook her head. "Later, Neville."

Lupin came back. "We'll be at Hogsmeade in ten minutes," he said. "Are you all right, Rose?"

Rose nodded. "We'll talk later."

Lupin, after a moment, nodded back. They probably had quite a bit to talk about later. But for the moment, getting to Hogwarts with their sanity intact was what mattered…

 **CHAPTER 6 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **I'll probably skip ahead to the beginning of class for the next chapter. I'm still not quite sure what House Schrödinger will be in, though he was in Gryffindor for** ** _Haemophilia_** **. It'll probably be a while before the next chapter, too. I thought I'd continue the reference to** ** _Unsinkable_** **by AmputeeTrainee. It'd be a very horrific memory for the Dementor to dig up. I mean, imagine dying multiple times at the bottom of the ocean.**

 **1\. I remember reading this being stated by Professor Frink in an old comic story of** ** _The Simpsons_** **, where Frink ends up going to a parallel Springfield due to an experiment, a microwave and foil. Long story. I thought this just like something Luna would say.**


	8. Chapter 7: Tasseomancy

**CHAPTER 7:**

 **TASSEOMANCY(** **1)**

Schrödinger opened his eyes, and yawned as he got off the very comfortable bed. Well, he was at Hogwarts now, under the name of Thomas Schrödinger. The first name was a joke by Rose, because she called him a 'tomcat', and that was how she named him to McGonagall. Schrödinger didn't like it, and asked anyone who called him 'Tom' to call him Schrödinger instead.

Still, to end up in Gryffindor was a surprise. Schrödinger didn't feel particularly brave or valorous. If anything, he felt more like a Slytherin, with all the cunning, or maybe a Ravenclaw, with his inquisitive nature.

But the Sorting Hat said, _You are like many a Gryffindor, Schrödinger. You venture forth into the unknown. You certainly have a Gryffindor's impulsiveness, their daring, and I think you will come into your own bravery and valour in time. Besides, who am I to separate you from your best friend?_

Schrödinger thought it a somewhat weak argument. But given that he wasn't separated from Rose, well, he wasn't going to complain. She could help guide him around Hogwarts.

Still, he reflected as he showered and dressed, he wondered how soon before his secret, and that of Rose, came out. Ron and Hermione knew, as did Luna. And thanks to the portrait of Rose's parents, he also knew that Dumbledore and McGonagall knew, or at least that they knew Rose wasn't human. And according to Rose, gossip spread like a bushfire in Hogwarts. And given the darker wizards' infamous contempt for any non-human, never mind non-wizards, well…

Then again, what could the wizards actually do to Schrödinger?

After a moment, Schrödinger realised they could do a lot. The Dementors were certainly the biggest risk. But that was leaving aside the fact that someone put compulsion and loyalty potions, along with suppression potions, into Rose. Okay, Schrödinger had the same thing, but that was from Millennium. And as far as he knew, Millennium had had no contact with Rose. If they had, they would have brought her in.

So some other party wanted to control a Cat Sìth. But to what end? Did someone else want a vampire dead?

And then, it hit Schrödinger. Rose and the portrait of her parents had mentioned a prophecy, about her being the one who was destined to kill Voldemort, or being killed by him. Someone was trying to ensure that it happened under their control. The Killing Curse wouldn't kill a Cat Sìth with their powers as long as their powers had awakened.

But was there some other factor involved? Schrödinger had a feeling there was. If only he knew what, exactly…

* * *

Rose and Hermione were both early risers, and as they walked down to the Common Room, Hermione asked her friend, "Can you trust Schrödinger?"

"I think so," Rose said. "He had potions holding him to Millennium. But here's the thing: I had potions too, Hermione. I've got them out of my system, but even so, who put them there?"

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "And did they know what you are?"

"How do you feel about it? I mean, me being a Cat Sìth?"

"I'm not going to dignify that with an answer," Hermione said a little sniffily. "It changes nothing. Besides, I was part-cat briefly, remember? Last year? At least all you have is the ears, and you can hide those. You're still Rose Potter as far as I'm concerned."

"Thanks, Hermione." As they emerged from the girls' dorms to the Common Room, they found Schrödinger stretching and yawning as he emerged from the boys' dorms. He waved, smiling, his fuchsia eyes glittering with mischief. Rose had to admit, she was glad he was in Gryffindor.

* * *

As they entered the Great Hall for breakfast, Draco Malfoy was doing his best impression of a swooning Rose and Schrödinger for the Slytherins who were his sycophants. " _Leck mich im Arsch_ ," Schrödinger jeered.

"What did you say?" Rose demanded quietly.

"He was being very rude, Rose," Hermione said, glaring at Schrödinger.

"What did you say?!" Draco demanded from the Slytherin table.

"I was commenting on the fact that urine is like captnip to Dementors, and you got them excited into a frenzy," Schrödinger sneered.

"He didn't actually say that," Hermione clarified in a whisper to Rose. "He basically told them to kiss him where the sun doesn't shine."

"Is it possible that one of the Slytherins knows enough German to know that?" Rose asked quietly.

"Not all Slytherins are as idiotic as Malfoy and his goons, Rose," Hermione said. "Though Schrödinger's false translation was still insulting."

"Better hope Snape doesn't catch wind of it," Rose said. "Did you see the way he was glaring at Lupin? If looks could kill, Lupin would be six feet under by now. My parents knew him at school, maybe that's why. Snape hates my father." She then noticed Hermione's timetable. "Okay, Hermione, why have you got three classes on at the same time? Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Divination…how are you going to get to each class, clone yourself or something? Is there a spell like that? Some wizard ninja spell?"

* * *

In another set of dimensions, a blonde-haired ninja in an orange jumpsuit that screamed 'LOOK AT ME, I'M A TARGET!', sneezed, as did his copies. Naruto groaned as the sneeze proved strong enough to dispel his Shadow Clones…

* * *

After a moment, Hermione eventually said, "Umm, yes, something like that." She seemed thankful nobody else was in earshot when she quietly admitted that. "It's dangerous, so I can't talk about it."

"Okay." Now, under normal circumstances, Rose would have left it at that. But she found her curiosity piqued, and so decided to see if she could find out how Hermione intended to do this. It was more out of idle curiosity than anything else. She would keep Hermione's secret…unless it would hurt her, because something told Rose that, no matter what Hermione used to attend all these classes, it would probably wear her out. And as Cat Sìth with her abilities could previsualise their destination before making that leap into the unknown, she could, theoretically, see what Hermione was doing. Okay, it was technically an invasion of Hermione's privacy, but Hermione was one of her first friends, and Rose would be damned before she allowed Hermione to hurt herself in any way.

Besides, she was a Cat Sìth, a human-like cat, and curiosity was a defining trait of cats, after all.

* * *

Soon, the four of them were on their way to Divination. Rose had had an uncanny knack for finding places since she arrived at Hogwarts, something to do with her powers as a Cat Sìth, she supposed, bound though they were. They managed to find their way to the Divination classroom in the North Tower.

The classroom itself was bizarre, somewhere between a cluttered attic and a teashop, though Rose was quite sure she caught a scent of something that she was sure wasn't legal in Britain. Twenty small circular tables were crammed within, surrounded by chintz armchairs. A dim, crimson light filled the air. Rose and the others were the first to arrive.

Since getting her powers in earnest, Rose's senses were amplified, and she actually realised where their teacher was, about to make an entrance in the way Ollivander did. "It's not nice, sneaking up on people," she said, before turning to face the teacher.

The woman was thin, with massive spectacles that magnified her eyes eerily. She seemed like some middle-aged hippy in a glittering shawl. This must be Sybill Trelawney, the woman who made the prophecy that caused Voldemort to come after her parents.

And, what was more, she seemed slightly startled, presumably at being rumbled so quickly. She recovered herself admirably, and said, in a soft, ethereal voice, "My apologies, but I like to make an impression. It is good to see you in the physical world at last."

As they waited for the rest of the class to come in, Rose closed her eyes, and tried to find Hermione again. After a moment, she caught her elsewhere, fading into existence, her hand over an hourglass-like amulet. Hermione tucked the hourglass into her robes, and hurried towards where, presumably, Muggle Studies was.

If Rose was a gambling person, she would say that whatever that hourglass thing was, it provided some sort of time travel. She didn't have any proof, but an hourglass motif and time travel did seem like they'd be linked. And it'd certainly explain how Hermione was confident that she'd get to each class.

Still, Rose was worried Hermione would run herself ragged, even with the help of this thing. She'd have to try and talk to her about it later.

* * *

The lesson went oddly after that. Ron was assigned to be Rose's partner. Throughout the lesson, Trelawney had made odd pronouncements to the students. One, made to Neville, came true, but given how Neville was clumsy, it was probably easy to predict he would break a tea cup. And they were going to engage in some tasseomancy, or tea-leaf reading.

After Ron tried looking into Rose's tea leaves, he didn't seem to get anything out of it, but Trelawney seemed to see something. She frowned, peering at them. "A wolf from the Moon and a wolf from the Earth…a werewolf and a Loup-Garou…this sign near them…possible danger or possible loyalty…and this one…" A sudden, melodramatic gasp from Trelawney, spoiled only by Neville accidentally breaking another cup. "No…the Grim. And…worse than the Grim…you have…you have…"

"A nemesis? I knew that already, don't need to see the future," Rose snarked.

"No…even worse than that. You have… _the Crimson Fucker_."

"Language," Hermione chided, even as consternation swept the classroom. On an impulse or whim, Trelawney went over to Schrödinger, and looked in his teacup. Once more, she gasped melodramatically.

"You too have the same patterns!" Trelawney exclaimed. "Never have I seen such synchronicity in this! If it were merely the Grim, I would say that it was the worst omen of all, that of death. But I forgot that there are worst omens than even the Grim."

"Are you talking about Alucard?" Rose asked.

"Speak not his name, or he will descend upon us, to drink our blood, or tear us to bloody fragments, or taunt us for his own vile amusement!" Trelawney gasped.

* * *

The lesson was soon over, with Hermione earning Trelawney's disdain for not being able to see what Trelawney saw. Trelawney dismissed the class early. They managed to get to Transfiguration early, or at least Rose and Schrödinger's group had (with Hermione first leaving the group, and then running up to them), and Rose decided to take the opportunity to quietly talk to Hermione, asking Schrödinger, Ron, and Neville if she could have a seat with Hermione out of the way.

"What's the matter, Rose?" Hermione asked quietly. She knew Rose wanted to have some privacy while they talked. "Did Trelawney's prediction get to you?"

"Death threats mean little to me," Rose said quietly. "Two years, I've had to deal with this stuff happening. Even if that was a genuine prediction, she's being a drama queen. No, I wanted to talk to you about something. You see, because of my powers, I can pre-visualise my destination, so that I can look before I leap, so to speak. And when you had that insane schedule…Hermione, I know that was rude of me to look at what you used, but I don't want you running ragged because you have this fetish for learning. I saw that little hourglass thing."

Hermione looked frightened, indignant, and angry. "Rose, you peeked at me when it's none of your business?"

"Hermione, I was concerned about you. You said when we were at that Potions logic puzzle Snape set up that wizards didn't have a lick of logic, but you aren't being logical. That's some sort of time travel thing, right? Even if you use it to go to all of your classes, and use it to help with the homework…you'll still have a lot of sleep to catch up on, your body can't catch up. And you can't use that thing in your sleep, can you? Hermione, you're my friend, and I don't want you hurting yourself."

Hermione scowled, but she realised that Rose was only concerned for her. Eventually, she said, "You cannot tell anyone about this. Only Professor McGonagall and Dumbledore know. Professor McGonagall had to write all sorts of letters to the Ministry to allow me to have this thing. It's from the Department of Mysteries. It's a Time-Turner."

"I figured it was a time-travel thing, given the hourglass. I prefer the TARDIS, really."

Hermione giggled, her earlier anger dissipating. "Yeah, but I have to be careful. Time travel's no laughing matter."

"Neither is running yourself into the ground," Rose said. "Hermione, promise me two things. Firstly, if it gets to be too much, then quit a couple of subjects, that schedule is insane. Secondly, if you need help with your homework, just ask. I know it's usually the other way around, but…"

"I'll consider it. And thanks. I'm still a little annoyed you pried, but…I know you were looking out for me."

* * *

The class soon began, with people shooting looks at Rose and Schrödinger, with McGonagall's lecture on Animagi not getting the usual applause it did. When she learned that they had just come from Divination, she sighed. "No need to say anything else, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you has been predicted to die?"

Rose and Schrödinger put their hands up, but it was Schrödinger who said, "Excuse me, Professor, but it wasn't death she saw in our teacups. She saw… _Alucard_."

As consternation swept the classroom at the name, McGonagall blanched. "My word, that is far worse than usual. But it is customary of Professor Trelawney to predict the demise of at least one student since she arrived. It is her way of greeting new students. Though usually she just claims to see the Grim or something similar. Alucard is a different matter entirely. Of course, it's more than likely she was trying to shake things up."

"I don't know, Professor," Schrödinger said. "I encountered Alucard in Diagon Alley." Well, Knockturn, but he wasn't going to admit that.

"And you are very lucky to come out of it relatively unscathed, I am sure," McGonagall said, not unkindly. "However, Divination is one of the more imprecise areas of magic, and true Seers are rare. You both look in excellent health, Miss Potter and Mr Schrödinger, so I cannot let you off homework for the time being. Rest assured, if you do perish, you won't be penalised for not handing it in."

"Bet you Snape would do that anyway," Rose whispered to Hermione, who stifled a snort of laughter.

* * *

Laughter was not on the mind of the Captain as he made his way across the highlands, only grim determination. Getting into Scotland was surprisingly easy, but he needed to stay below the radar of Hellsing. He transformed only at night, when his transformed state could be misconstrued as nightmare or hallucination when it wasn't concealed by darkness.

His outwardly peaceful countenance, grim though it was, masked an inner turmoil. Of the members of Millennium, the Captain wasn't in it for the ideology of National Socialism, or for war for its own sake. The Captain was the last of his kind, and he knew that death awaited him, as it had for a long time. He joined the Wehrmacht and then Millennium for a chance for one last glorious battle, one he would be proud to die in. Sadly, that hadn't eventuated, and he was leashed to Millennium.

Recently, a light of sorts had come into that darkness. Schrödinger, a Cat Sìth who had been shaped into a weapon against the otherwise seemingly invincible Alucard by Millennium. He became like a little brother to the Captain. And to have that brother taken from him…

The Captain marched grimly on along the highlands, with Hogwarts in his sights. Nothing would stop him from finding out what had happened. Nothing.

 **CHAPTER 7 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Sorry about the wait. I decided, with a distinct lack of originality, to put Schrödinger into Gryffindor. And if you think Rose managed to reassure Hermione too easily about peeking on her (so to speak), they've been good friends for quite a while, better than even the canon Harry and Hermione. Hermione realises that Rose did so out of concern, and wants to help.**

 **I was going to put both the Divination and Care for Magical Creatures classes in the same chapter, with the original title being 'Drama Queens', but the prelude to Divination and Divination itself took up so much, I decided to defer that for the next chapter. We'll soon see also what sort of Dumbledore we have in the next chapter.**

 **1\. Tasseomancy is the technical term for reading tea-leaves.**


	9. Chapter 8: Only Fools and Hippogriffs

**CHAPTER 8:**

 **ONLY FOOLS AND HIPPOGRIFFS…**

There was once a man who came to believe that he was the embodiment of all virtue in Magical Britain, and was the scourge of all vice in Magical Britain. In other times, he had become more benign. Still manipulative, and still somewhat unable to trust others with vital information, but he at least was not a villain. Not so the man we see here. Not so this iteration of Albus Dumbledore.

This was a man who believed in the Greater Good, just as his friend and lover did. But where Grindlewald wanted to rule overtly, conquer the Muggles, Dumbledore found it better to rule Magical Britain, and indeed a good chunk of the wizarding world, from the shadows. True, he had overt positions of power, positions many a Muggle would look askance at if they knew what they meant (effectively Speaker of Parliament and Secretary-General of the UN, in addition to being the Headmaster of Hogwarts), but he knew how to wield their power without drawing attention, though it was ridiculously easy in Magical Britain. Muggles as a whole were stupid enough, collectively, but wizards and witches even more so. It was no wonder they needed his guidance.

And how long would they last without it? Dumbledore decided that Magical Britain could not and would not endure without his help. He was the next coming of Merlin, the power behind the throne, so to speak. And so, in order to guide his country, he needed to be immortal. He would be wizard eternal, and rule forever from behind the scenes(1).

How to do so? He had learned of Horcruxes, but to split one's soul was the mark of a dark wizard, and Dumbledore had deluded himself into thinking he was truly only a light one. He had a contact with Nicholas Flamel, and could obtain the Elixir of Life, but Flamel showed how much more security one had to have if one was overtly immortal. Flamel was a paranoid recluse, refusing correspondence with any but a select few, and lately, Dumbledore was struck off that list.

It was during Voldemort's uprising, while searching for various rituals, that he stumbled across one that he thought might be useful. It was a ritual used to swap minds and souls between bodies, originally developed for Aurors (they could go undercover as the criminals of the gangs they infiltrated, and it bypassed any concerns about Polyjuice Potion or Metamorphagus abilities being detected), before it was banned, labelled dark magic. The reason? It was discovered that if one of the bodies died, the swap would become permanent.

But who to do it with? The answer came when the Potters adopted their daughter. Dumbledore soon learned of the fact that the girl was a Cat Sìth, and of the extent of her powers, given a test after she was adopted. Cat Sìth with a void affinity were the rarest of the rare, and what was more, were effectively immortal. They could die, but their death was always temporary.

It also meant he had the perfect messianic weapon. Someone whose rise he could stage-manage, so that their name could become a byword for the Light. Someone who would be so indebted to him, they would do anything for him. Even die.

It was why Dumbledore bound her abilities after Voldemort killed her parents (Dumbledore had no hand in that per se, beyond allowing Severus to escape with the knowledge of the prophecy, but it was serendipitous), at least for the time being. No need for anyone to think that the Girl Who Lived wasn't human. If she really was about to die, the bindings would snap just long enough for her to revive, and then snap back (and hopefully, remove that damned Horcrux in the process). Potions were keyed to keep her loyal to him and a select few.

True, not everything had gone according to plan the past couple of years. There was the Horcrux diary and Ginny Weasley unleashing the Basilisk while possessed by Voldemort. There were the unexpected friends that Rose had made: while Luna Lovegood came from a Pureblood family, the Lovegoods were disturbingly perceptive when it came to Dumbledore and the Order, and there was the Granger girl. And Dumbledore daren't try and manipulate the Weasley family into using a marriage contract or something similar: they were too principled for one thing, despite their poverty, and Dumbledore didn't want to have anything bite him personally in the arse.

He did make suggestions here and there. But that was all he could do, unless the time came for drastic measures.

Another thing that wasn't part of the plan was the Schrödinger boy. It was a rather odd name, to say the least. Dumbledore found it mildly disquieting. He was aware a little of Muggle science, and knew of the thought experiment of Schrödinger's Cat. The fact that it was not unlike the abilities of a Cat Sìth with void affinity was an irony he had appreciated, so he was hoping that Schrödinger's name was merely a coincidence.

It had to be. Cat Sìth with a void affinity were ridiculously rare, occurring perhaps once every few centuries. He was lucky enough to learn that Rose Potter was one.

In any case, while this new friend of Rose's was a concern, of greater concern was Sirius Black. He'd somehow escaped Azkaban, and after Dumbledore and Barty Crouch Senior had gone to so much trouble to ship him off without trial, too. For Dumbledore, it meant the one big obstacle to placing Rose where he thought she should go was removed. For Crouch, it was showing the world that justice had been done (even if it hadn't, but it was for the Greater Good). He had to wonder what had catalysed Black's jailbreak? Obviously, something did.

Had Black somehow discerned Peter Pettigrew's whereabouts? And if so, how? Even Dumbledore didn't know for sure, though he had his suspicions. Of course, there were so many other factors. Some of them, Dumbledore didn't know. For all he knew, Black snapped inside Azkaban, and had escaped to see his goddaughter.

That Pettigrew had been caught was unfortunate, but even then, it wasn't that great a setback. Black may not have seen the news yet, and might be heading to Hogwarts. And that fool Fudge had kept the Dementors around, and they didn't like to be thwarted. Maybe they might deal with Black for him. He could only hope. And given how young Severus had such a grudge against Black, maybe he could be set on Black.

Yes, Dumbledore reflected. God was in his heaven, and almost all was right with the world…

* * *

Rose scowled to herself. That damned drama queen! When they attended the Care for Magical Creatures lesson, they were given quite the treat by Hagrid: Hippogriffs. Okay, they were dangerous, but even so, they weren't dangerous if you didn't provoke them, or didn't get out of the way. And yet, Draco Malfoy actually went out of his way to provoke the magnificent Hippogriff that Hagrid had had Rose test her ability on, named Buckbeak. Now he was in the Hospital Wing, and knowing Malfoy, he was apt to cook up mischief. The Slytherins, or at least Malfoy's cronies, were already calling for Hagrid to be sacked.

While Hippogriffs were perhaps somewhat advanced, especially for a class just starting out, Rose had enjoyed the class. Hagrid did show a slight lapse in judgement, but Malfoy was the one responsible for that mess, not Hagrid.

"Knowing Malfoy, he will pull strings with his father to make trouble," Rose muttered as they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Just over that?" Schrödinger asked. "I knew he was petty, but this petty?"

"He's a petty little brat," Rose said. "He basically says, 'screw the rules, I have money'(2)."

"If it comes to the Ministry getting involved, they'll probably have Buckbeak executed by the Committee for Disposal of Dangerous Magical Creatures," Hermione mused. "There'll be a hearing there at least."

"And remember last year, when Hagrid was railroaded to Azkaban," Ron pointed out. "Now I can see why people hate it so much. I don't want to go near the Dementors ever again. Anyway, Malfoy's dad influenced Fudge then, not to mention scaring the Board into firing Dumbledore."

"And given that they railroaded my godfather…" Rose muttered. "Listen, if Hagrid isn't there when we go to dinner, I'll go and talk to him."

"Alone?" Hermione asked.

"I can use my abilities, remember?" Rose said quietly. "Normally, you can't Apparate within Hogwarts, but I can use my abilities. I am everywhere and nowhere. I don't want to get the rest of you into trouble if I get caught."

* * *

Hagrid proved to not be at dinner, and so, Rose slipped out after finishing her own, appearing at Hagrid's hut and reassuring him while he was trying to drink himself into a stupor. It worked a little too well: Hagrid, after sobering himself up, had started yelling at her to head back to the castle, as he didn't want her getting caught out after dark.

Thankfully, she made it back into the castle long before curfew. However, as she made her way back inside, she heard a rather unwelcome voice as she left the Great Hall. "…changes little, Lupin," the nasal voice of Snape said. "It merely means Black is guilty of less crimes than he once was."

"Snape, I understand the rancour you hold for him. Isn't over a decade in Azkaban enough?" This was Lupin's voice.

"I would rather he be Kissed. As it is, I'm sure that if I let it happen, a certain vampire would come after me for wasting his time capturing Pettigrew. Alucard is infamous in many circles."

"You're changing the subject. Minerva has told me how you treated Rose."

"She has too much of her father in her."

"Severus…the Potters adopted her. Or did you not know that?"

A brief silence, before Snape said, in a shaken tone, "What? Do you mean that's not Potter's daughter?"

"No. Didn't Dumbledore tell you? James was rendered sterile while fighting the Death Eaters. They couldn't reverse it."

"Yes, I found that puzzling, considering I was the one who cursed him in the first place. I merely thought I had messed it up."

A growl of anger from Lupin, before he said, quietly, "They adopted Rose from a family friend. You didn't know?"

"No…" In that single syllable was something odd in Snape's voice. Rose couldn't tell what it was.

"She's not James' daughter by blood, but they loved her anyway, Severus."

There was a long pause before Snape responded. "…I need to get back to my laboratory. My godson needs potions. Hagrid should have known better than to bring Hippogriffs into a third year class. And Draco should have known better than to provoke one." With that, Snape walked away, thankfully not coming anywhere near Rose.

Rose walked around the corner, to find the careworn Lupin standing there, running a hand through his hair. He then noticed Rose. "Rose, what are you doing out so late?"

"Reassuring Hagrid."

"Cutting it a bit fine," Lupin said. "You nearly ran into Professor Snape."

"I know. I heard part of it."

Lupin nodded. After a moment, he said, "It's still about an hour until curfew. On the train, you said we'd talk later. Well? Would you like to have that talk now in my office? You do know…I knew your parents?"

"I have known for a while. Not very long, but for a few weeks now. You were one of the Marauders, right?"

Lupin nodded again. "We won't have long to talk. Your friends will be worried about you, and curfew's nearly upon the school…"

* * *

"As far as I can tell, Master, Schrödinger is certainly sincere in wanting to get away from Millennium. Intelligence gathered so far points to that," Alucard said in Hellsing HQ, reporting what his familiar had relayed to him from Hogwarts. "It's also interesting that Schrödinger has been Sorted into the same House as Rose Potter."

"Keep monitoring him regardless, Alucard. Having a member of Millennium, even a former member, close to the Girl Who Lived may be a disaster. Even if he is sincere in defecting, it is possible that Millennium may try to retrieve him," Integra said. "Incidentally, I have pulled in favours with MI6. As we know little about where Millennium has gone to ground, I'm asking them for any intel they have on possible Nazi war criminals who fled along the ratlines at the end of the Second World War. It's a long shot, but we need to find them. On another note, I am assigning you to a new hunt."

"Ooh, this should be interesting. Is it a vampire or a werewolf?"

"Neither. I want you to track down and intercept Sirius Black before he reaches Hogwarts."

Alucard frowned. "Intercept him? That may be something of a task, Master. He is good at eluding the DMLE, and while I would like to say that they're completely incompetent, not all of them are as bad as Dawlish."

"He has been spotted. He's heading north. And he's crossed the border into Scotland already. At the very least, he needs to be intercepted. He may not have received the news about Pettigrew, or else thinks its deception. Keep in mind, Alucard, that Black spent over a decade in Azkaban. That is not something conducive to mental health by any means. And as the fact that Rose Potter was a Cat Sìth was not publicly known, he may have some information he was privy to about her. And there's one more important factor. I have been in touch with Amelia Bones, and Black never got a trial. In fact, he was shipped off to Azkaban without trial, and while that wasn't wholly unusual during that time, it still seems suspicious, as most of those not given trials were rather low-ranking Death Eaters, whereas Black has been frequently trumpeted as Voldemort's right-hand man. A trial would have been better for such a prominent Death Eater, if he was one. I've got the feeling he may have been sent there quietly, with public feeling against him camouflaging the injustice."

"So you think someone, other than Pettigrew, set him up?"

"And could very well try to kill him to silence him. At the very least, he is running into a nest of Dementors at Hogsmeade. That is why I am ordering you to track him down and intercept him, Alucard. Also, be prepared for him to be an Animagus. Pettigrew was an Animagus, and by all accounts, Pettigrew, along with Black, James Potter, and Remus Lupin, were part of the same social group at Hogwarts. It may be that Black may be an Animagus too. We'll send you by helicopter to his last known sighting. I'm sure Baskerville can pick up the scent from there."

"Aww, a hunt where I don't get to kill," Alucard pouted. "Can I at least traumatise him within reason?"

"Only very slightly. If he faints and soils himself at the sight of you, then do nothing else."

"You're no fun, Master."

 **CHAPTER 8 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, here you go. The latest chapter. The next one will have Lupin and Rose discussing the Marauders and their respective secrets. And that one will probably not be out until the Christmas Update.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Captain James H00K** **: The Captain does NOT have potions in his system. He's in it to go out in a blaze of glory.**

 **Mordalfus Grea** **: Intriguing concept, but it's not going to happen here. Loup-Garou are not at all human. They can interbreed with humans, like some magical creatures, but they're not human.**

 **1\. I thought of Dumbledore in this story as being a bit like Borusa from** ** _Doctor Who: The Five Doctors_** **. This bit is a modification of one of his lines: "I shall be President Eternal, and rule forever!"**

 **2\. Of course, it's a reference to** ** _Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series_** **. This is what Kaiba says in the first episode, if you haven't watched it.**


	10. Chapter 9: Werewolf and Catgirl

**CHAPTER 9:**

 **WEREWOLF AND CATGIRL**

Rose looked at the man who was her uncle, of sorts. Not by blood, and certainly nothing like Vernon. Oh, Lupin was dangerous, but only because of something out of his control, because of a disease. Vernon Dursley, however, had no such excuse.

Lupin bustled around making tea, apologising for using bags. Rose didn't mind. Instead, she was the one who made the first move, as far as talking was concerned. "How's your condition, Professor?"

After a moment, Lupin said, "If we're alone, please, call me Remus. And my condition, as you put it, is fine at the moment. We both have something to hide, something Magical Britain would look down on us for."

"Your lycanthropy for one thing," Rose said.

"And your being not human for another," Lupin said. "I knew. Few knew that you were adopted, Rose. I wanted to adopt you, but Dumbledore had already spirited you away. Somewhere safe, he claimed. And truth be told, there was a lot of backlash against werewolves after Voldemort's defeat, as one of his most feared lieutenants was a werewolf called Fenrir Greyback. Many laws were passed, most of them by a rather odious woman by the name of Dolores Umbridge. Even if I had managed to get a hold of you, we would have had to either live in hiding, or flee overseas. Where did Dumbledore place you, anyway? He never said."

Rose scowled. "The Dursleys."

Lupin scowled himself. "Dumbledore knew that Petunia was on bad terms with Lily, that she was jealous. The only sane reason I could think that he would have left you there is because of blood wards, and even then…I think he suspected you weren't the Potter's child by blood."

"I think he more than suspected. Someone had put compulsion and suppression potions into me, and my Cat Sìth nature was locked away."

Lupin nodded sadly, before serving the tea. "Had you asked me at the time, I would have thought Dumbledore could do no wrong. In truth, times have changed that. And what I heard about Sirius has only thrown that into sharper relief. I thought myself paranoid, turning into a copy of Mad-Eye."

"Mad-Eye?"

"Alastor Moody, a former Auror who used to be part of the Order of the Phoenix. That was the vigilante group Dumbledore formed to oppose Voldemort last time. Paranoid as anything, but he has good reason to be. Anyway, I only accepted Dumbledore's offer of the DADA position because it was the only way I could see you again. I mean, without seeming like some child molester. I know that Petunia knows what I am, and would have called the police on me to take me away had I come to their house. That, and at the time that Dumbledore made the offer, Sirius had just escaped from Azkaban, and I wanted to make him pay for his betrayal."

Rose sipped at the tea. It was calming and soothing. But then, she said, "Snape said he was a Death Eater, one of Voldemort's followers."

"I don't know the full story, but he turned against them in the dying days of the war. Some of the things we did to Snape at school, I'm frankly ashamed of. I never did anything to him personally, though it got close at one point. Snape was good friends with your mother, Rose, but he loathed your father as you know, and the feeling was mutual. Your father was a good man in the end, but at times, he was something of a bully towards Slytherins. Then again, Voldemort took many of his followers from Slytherin, as you know. In any case, while I doubt Dumbledore's word on the matter, the truth is, Snape is a complex man. Perhaps knowing you're not James Potter's flesh and blood child may have him treat you a little better."

"He still bullies my friends. Especially Neville. I don't think he'll change."

Lupin shrugged, before taking a sip of his own cup of tea. "Just keep in mind, he will be teaching DADA every so often due to my condition. And I'd thank you not to mention it to anyone else. Not many in Magical Britain, or the world in general, think much of werewolves. Then again, they're not fond of anyone with creature heritage either."

"My parents' portrait already gave me the lecture," Rose said pointedly. "And you only have to look at the way Hagrid's treated. Luna once said she was sure he was half-Giant. And given how Giants are thought of…"

"Yes. Hagrid's a good-natured soul, but half-Giants take after their human halves in terms of personality, usually. Giants are mostly savage beings who care only about violence and strength. But enough about them. I'm curious about something. _The Daily Prophet_ claimed that _Alucard_ , of all people, handed Peter into the DMLE."

"He even gave Ron a letter. He even signed it 'the Crimson Fucker'. That's a pretty rude name, isn't it?"

"Yes, but this is Dracula we're talking about. I've met him, albeit in passing, a couple of times. Werewolves of all kinds tend to get his notice, though as long as you're keeping the beast at bay, well, he won't come after you. Iscariot's another matter entirely, but they don't operate in Britain, thankfully."

"Iscariot?"

"Section XIII of the Vatican's secret departments. It's not supposed to exist, but their hunters are things of legend. You wouldn't have anything to fear from Hellsing, but Iscariot is known to hunt wizards and witches, usually the rogue ones, but sometimes, they kill more innocent ones. Voldemort was infamous because he actually killed many of Iscariot's operatives, though Grindlewald did the same. Their main targets, though, are vampires, werewolves, and any mundane threats to their power, like terrorists. That being said, Iscariot isn't all bad: their top hunter, Alexander Anderson, is said to be a very kindhearted man to the orphans he raises. Hell, he's so protective of them, when a priest with certain tastes tried to molest them, Anderson made his displeasure known. He force-fed the priest his own liver."

Rose shuddered. "Gross."

Lupin nodded. "And Iscariot does do some good work in the world. But they are also fanatics. But back to Alucard. Alucard…is probably one of the oldest living vampires still alive, and certainly the oldest who still has a somewhat violent lifestyle. He does channel it in his service to Hellsing. But I have to wonder how he found out about Peter."

"He was in Diagon Alley before," Rose said. "Schrödinger encountered him. And Schrödinger's like me."

"I know, I could smell it. So Alucard was there, but how was he able to discern…did you ever discuss the possibility that Peter was the rat with anyone?"

"Yes, with Schrödinger."

"Then Alucard could have used one of his familiars. Alucard has many familiars, though hellhounds, centipedes and his victims are his favourites. But he can transform them into any animal he wishes. Flies, spiders, snakes, cats, horses…"

"How do you know this?"

"Vampires are the mortal enemies of werewolves, and it's best to know your enemy. In any case, dark creatures of all kinds were a specialty of mine when it came to earning my DADA qualifications."

Rose nodded, before something in her mind clicked. _Cats…wait a moment…_ Out loud, she said, slowly and tentatively, "Professor, is there any way of testing for a familiar of a vampire?"

"There's a few ways. Why?"

Rose felt a creeping chill of dread as she explained. "Schrödinger got a cat shortly before Scabbers went missing, but the cat leapt out of the window shortly after we discussed Pettigrew. Schrödinger has a familiar of Alucard with him, I think."

Lupin's eyes widened. "Oh dear. That could make things very complicated. Dumbledore is far from a fan of Alucard. The two have met before, and the two are enemies. He's also made enemies with most of the Ministry of Magic, and most wizards and witches fear him. If it's discovered that a familiar of Alucard's is here…"

"The crap would hit the fan?" Rose asked. She remembered Trelawney and McGonagall's reactions to Alucard.

"To put it indelicately, yes. I doubt we would be able to evict Alucard from Hogwarts…but we can at least find out what he's doing here." Lupin finished his tea. "Maybe we should save this talk for another time. However, I must warn you, in our first DADA class, we will be having the class face a Boggart. I'm a bit worried about having you face one, as I would think that it might turn into Voldemort, and that'd cause a panic, so I will be holding you back from that assessment. That being said, given your reaction to Dementors, I think we should consider teaching you the Patronus Charm. But I think Alucard's familiar is the more urgent issue…"

* * *

In the privacy of his personal laboratory, where he could let loose his iron grip on his emotions, Severus Snape was pacing as he waited for the concoction to come to the boil. Lupin's admission about Rose Potter had thrown him for a loop. And a brief Legilimency probe had shown that the damned werewolf wasn't lying! Rose Potter was adopted by the Potters. And he had glimpsed something else within the werewolf's mind. Rose Potter wasn't even human! She was a Cat Sìth!

Now so many things were beginning to make sense. Horrible, horrible sense. Snape ran a hand through his lank, greasy hair, rendered that way by fumes from innumerable cauldrons and their contents. How James Potter was able to have a child when Snape had rendered him sterile with that curse. How there was something very different to both Potter and Lily in Rose's face. He had briefly considered and dismissed an inheritance ritual on another child, before deciding that either Potter had managed to reverse the curse, or that Lily had consented to being impregnated by one of Potter's friends. How Rose's mind seemed to be, if not actually impervious to Legilimency, then more resistant than he expected: sentient magical creatures tended to have different set-ups to their minds, and made it harder to penetrate.

There probably had been an inheritance ritual of some kind on Rose: her appearance was too similar to that of James and Lily to be otherwise. A potion or something. She certainly inherited Potter's disregard for the rules, and Lily's fire. And now that he had been shocked into examining Rose Potter a little more objectively, she had inherited some of Lily's intelligence. What had she inherited from her biological parents, then?

He then remembered his potion for Draco, and returned to it, stirring it gently, the action therapeutic. That fool of a godson thought he was the paragon of Slytherin's values, when in reality, he was a pretender. Lucius was far more adept at such things. In fact, most of those who embodied the true values of Slytherin were outside Malfoy's little circle of friends…well, cronies and sycophants. Students like the Greengrass girls, or that Zabini boy. Slytherin, of late, seemed to be the dumping ground of more of the thugs and idiots of the Pureblood families. Not all of them, but too many for Snape's liking. Oh, he favoured the Slytherins, partly to ensure that when Voldemort came back, his actions wouldn't be too heavily scrutinised, and partly because he felt it just and proper payback for all those times the Marauders had harmed him and his friends, Death Eater wannabes or not. But he knew the current generation had few who embodied Salazar Slytherin's ideals.

He thought back to the days of Slughorn. That decrepit old nepotistic fence-sitter was a coward, but he was at least intelligent and knew how to network. And he embodied cunning and ambition in a more positive way than most Slytherins did nowadays. Most were dunderheads when it came to applying those values. Or dunderheads in general, he reflected, thinking about Crabbe and Goyle.

The potion was finished, and Snape ladled it out into vials. He would take it to Pomfrey in the morning, as it required some cooling first. With that, he cleaned everything up, and retired into his quarters. Dark thoughts followed him as he did so, trailing behind him like the dark robes he habitually wore…

* * *

And in the darkened streets of Hogsmeade, a tall man with snow white hair, tanned skin strode. He avoided the Dementors, though if he truly wished, he could wipe them out very swiftly indeed. He hated being around the foul creatures, though. He was resistant to their aura, though not immune.

The Captain had smelt the faintest remnants of a werewolf, not one of his kind, a Loup-Garou, but that of a mere diseased human. It had been at an abandoned, derelict shack that a nearby sign proclaimed to be the Shrieking Shack, supposedly the most haunted building in Britain. It must have been used as a refuge for a werewolf some time ago.

As he approached a pub called the Hog's Head (one of the less reputable in Hogsmeade), he wondered how he was going to persuade Schrödinger to come back. As much as the Captain wanted to allow the boy to make his own choices about this, the Major had made it clear that failure to retrieve Schrödinger would not be tolerated.

The Captain thought that Schrödinger may have been kidnapped at first, but Schrödinger's abilities would preclude this. True, he could have been indoctrinated against Millennium, but the Captain thought it more likely, given what the Major and the Doctor said, that the potions binding him to Millennium had been removed.

If Schrödinger was happy here, and not indoctrinated…then the Captain would willingly allow himself to be immolated to prevent Millennium from getting him. Although not one of Millennium's artificial vampires, the Doctor had implanted a chip into his brain. They were monitoring him, not all of the time, but certainly most of the time. Schrödinger couldn't have such a chip implanted into him, due to his abilities, hence the potions needed to control him.

Just as the Captain reached the door, he sniffed the air all of a sudden, and then blinked. It was the faintest of scents, but he was sure he could smell…

 _Him_.

 ** _Alucard_**.

So, Alucard was here. Or something of him was. Oh, it was a faint scent, which meant it either came from the very limit of his smell, or was old. He was putting money on the former. His eyes looked over at Hogwarts Castle in the distance, the dark silhouette of the castle clawing at the cold night sky. Alucard was there, he was sure of it.

So, was Alucard at Hogwarts, alongside Schrödinger? Hmm. Perhaps the Captain would get the final battle he had lusted for after all. He didn't know whether to smile in anticipation, or frown in worry. Instead, he merely grunted softly, and entered the inn. He would make his way there tomorrow…

 **CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **And here you have it. Some Remus and Rose having a heart-to-heart, Snape doing a bit of soul-searching, and the Captain just searching.**

 **Incidentally, in most stories where I do Dumbledore-bashing, I usually make Snape into a villain. Here, I want him to be an ally to Rose, albeit in a very dark, Kerr Avon way (Kerr Avon was one of the main characters from** ** _Blake's 7_** **: imagine Snape as an amoral computer hacker turned reluctant revolutionary, and you have Avon).**

 **Review-answering time!** **ALthalus57** **: He's basically under Dumbledore's protection, so any crimes he committed before Dumbledore had him pardoned have been swept under the table, even if they weren't known to the public.**

 **Captain James H00K** **: Too early to say at the moment. Dumbledore's the bigger threat ATM.**

 **No numbered annotations this time.**


	11. Chapter 10: Let the Wrong One In

**CHAPTER 10:**

 **LET THE WRONG ONE IN**

Rose entered the Common Room, to find Schrödinger petting the cat while he was seated on one of the lounges, speaking with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny. "Schrödinger?" she asked. "I need to borrow you and your pet for a moment. Ron? Hermione? Could you please come along?"

Hermione frowned. "It's only ten minutes until curfew, Rose."

"It's important," Rose said quietly. And like that, Hermione and Ron nodded, reluctantly agreeing. Rose brought them along because she knew them most, and trusted them most.

They were soon in a room not far from the entrance to the Gryffindor dormitories, and Ron frowned. "What's this about, anyway?"

"Because we may be in trouble." She looked over at the cat Schrödinger was holding rather knowingly. "Aren't we, _Alucard?_ "

Almost immediately, the cat leapt from Schrödinger's arms, and changed into the distinctive red-coated form of the infamous vampire. Schrödinger swore in German, Hermione's eyes were wide, and poor Ron looked like he was about to faint. The vampire grinned, showing off a mouth filled with shark-like teeth. "Gotta hand it to you, kid, you really know how to rub pussy," he said.

" _Sich verpissen!_ " Schrödinger snarled, half in anger at the innuendo, and half in fear.

"Don't be so rude. I'm giving you a compliment. Kids these days, they don't respect their elders." Alucard sighed. "Anyway, technically, this isn't me. This is one of my familiars transformed to look like me, or your precious little kitty cat. You ever tried to pat your head and rub your belly simultaneously? I'm good at that, I've had the practise. Just out of interest, why did you bring the other two Mouseketeers out with you, Rose Potter? Did you think they would be any help stopping me?"

"No. They just deserve to know. If you wanted to kill us, you could have done so long ago, anyway. Are you spying on Schrödinger? Because he's ex-Millennium?"

"Of course. Plus, it's interesting that the Girl Who Lived turns out to be just like him. D'you know how boring it's been lately at Hellsing? Hasn't been any decent vampire incidents for a while, and then, I get the first whiff of Millennium for decades. Plus, I enjoy tweaking the noses of wizards. Apropos of nothing, Ron, did you enjoy my gift of an owl?"

Ron, scared stiff by one of the oldest and most powerful vampires talking to him casually, and frightened of offending the Crimson Fucker, nodded mutely. Hermione, meanwhile, was a bit more verbose, her general inquisitiveness overcoming her fear. "Umm, Mr Alucard…?"

"Look, not that I don't appreciate the deference and fear, but no need to be formal. You can call me…the Crimson Fucker. Or Alucard if you're a prude, as I just know you're going to chide me for my language, despite the fact that I'm a centuries-old vampire who can eat you if you annoy me. Then again, I haven't eaten Mary Whitehouse yet(1), and I think if I do, I'll get the runs."

"…I think I will stick with just calling you Alucard," Hermione said. "But my question is…are you going to hurt my friends?"

"As amusing as it will be to see you defend them from me, you don't have to worry. My concern is purely with the catboygirl here," Alucard said, indicating Schrödinger. "Plus, think of me as a bodyguard. Millennium wants to use Schrödinger as a weapon against me, if what I overheard was true. I'd prefer to make sure that their trump card is kept out of their reach. By guarding Rose and Schrödinger, I protect myself. Plus, it's fun being here under old Albus' broken nose. Which reminds me." He glared at the gathered children. "Don't tell him about me. And try not to look him in the eye. Rose and Schrödinger have a slight advantage given their natures, but Legilimency will still work on you all." He then snapped his fingers. "Wait, better plan. Luckily for you four, I ate some wizards over the years, and I happen to know the Fidelius. Even Legilimency can't crack that. Plus, as a Secret Keeper, I have some advantage against mind-readers. All the souls within my body would confuse them."

"We'd better hurry, it's almost time for curfew," Hermione said.

After a moment, Alucard said, "My master would _love_ you. She's a rule-abiding killjoy most of the time too…"

* * *

After that was all said and done, and they made it back to the dorms in time, Ron and Hermione opted to head to bed, the experience of learning they had one of the most powerful vampires here rather disturbing, to say the least. Alucard, however, wanted to arrange a more indepth meeting with the two Cat Sìth, and told them to meet him in the same classroom afterwards, using their powers once everyone else had gone to bed. Alucard would be able to use illusion spells to fool anyone into thinking they were still in bed.

In the classroom again, Alucard crossed his arms, having set up privacy charms. "So, let's get the funny business out of the way. I was telling that bushy-haired little party-pooper the truth about what I am doing here: by guarding you two against Millennium's agents, I protect myself, so it's in my personal self-interest to guard you two kitty cats. Incidentally, she gives some pretty damn good belly rubs. Though I get the distinct impression I won't be getting them anymore, now that she knows I am a Real Fucking Vampire."

"She also has a thing about bad language," Rose said.

"And you don't?"

"I grew up in a household where my being called a freak was a good day, you tell me," Rose said deadpan. "Okay, I'm exaggerating a little, but I learned more expletives from my uncle than I should have before I turned eight."

"…Fair enough." Alucard's eyes looked over at Schrödinger. "Now, I wanted to ask a few questions, mostly of the ex-Nazi Catboy Scout, but also of you, Catgirl Who Lived. Now, I ain't gonna play Good Cop, Bad Cop, partly because I don't feel like scaring more crap out of you than I have already, but also because, well, frankly, I'm ALL Bad Cop."

Rose, after a moment, blinked, saying, "Seriously, did you just call me 'the Catgirl Who Lived'? I dunno whether to laugh or slap you."

"Meh, I get that reaction out of my master a lot. Sir Integra is fun to rile," Alucard said. "Anyhoodle, Schrödinger, obviously, they wanted to use you to off me. But what did they intend to cap off my possible demise with?"

"A full-scale invasion of London," Schrödinger admitted. "You know the Major, along with Herr Doktor and the Captain. They're in charge."

"So, the tubby guy, the guy who wears a mini-phoropter, and the Loups-Garou who kicked me in half, despite me looking like a teenaged girl."

Rose blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Oh, right. I was going through what I now call my 'Girlycard' phase. Think what I would look like as a fourteen year old girl. I made a bit of a mistake pissing off the old Loups-Garou. You know that BS about vampires and werewolves hating each other? It's actually vampires and Loups-Garou. Anyway, he literally kicked me in half. A bit of an overreaction to my taunts, but hey, I'm used to them riling people into homicidal rages. By the way, anyone else I know involved?"

After a moment, Schrödinger said, "They have people being turned into vampires via an artificial creation process. Doc used the corpse of Wilhelmina Murray as the base for it."

Rose felt the temperature of the room plummet to cryogenic levels. Alucard's crimson eyes seemed to glow even more than they usually did. Only a tightening of his lips betrayed the true depths of the anger he felt. After a moment, he said, "Anything else?"

"You may remember Rip van Winkle." On Alucard's bemused expression, Schrödinger said, "Dark hair, glasses?"

"Hmm, rings a bell. Nobody else I know?"

"Not in Millennium HQ, no. They do have forces we are working on. And there are a number of traitors within the British government. As well as in Hellsing."

Alucard's eyes narrowed. "Who?"

Schrödinger, after a moment's hesitation, admitted, "Walter C Dornez."

Alucard was deathly silent. Rose had this sudden urge to interpose herself between Alucard and Schrödinger, which she did. Alucard did not lunge, however. Instead, he was standing still, too still. They stood there in still silence, for what felt like an eternity. It was still minutes at the very least.

Eventually, Alucard said, in a very serious, dangerous tone of voice, "You expect me to believe that Walter is a traitor? To my master? To me? For what possible reason would he do that?"

"He wants immortality, Alucard," Schrödinger said. "Many have killed or turned traitor for such things. Even now, there are traitors in the Vatican who have turned their backs on the teachings of the Catholic Church for guaranteed immortality. I am sorry, Alucard, but I tell the truth. He wants not just immortality, but the ability to face you on equal terms, to best you."

After a moment, Rose realised that she was privy to a rare event. She could see a trickle of moisture beginning to wend its way down Alucard's pale cheek. The vampire once known as the infamous Dracula was weeping, an utterly dismayed expression on his face. "…He was gone when Integra's uncle tried to murder her to take up the title," he murmured. "Walter wasn't there to protect her. And yet, ever since, he had done nothing but…be there for her, and for me."

"Walter's concern is with you. He was reluctant to betray Sir Integra, and he still is. He is more fixated on defeating you."

"Fool," Alucard murmured softly, tears continuing to crawl down his cheeks. "Is it safe for me to leave my master with him?"

"He won't do anything until Millennium launches their invasion, Alucard," Schrödinger said.

"Even if it's to find you?" Alucard asked.

"He wouldn't dare do anything but feed information back to Millennium," Schrödinger said.

"He'd better not. To betray my master for petty power, and for an immortality he would regret if he lived long enough is bad enough. Should he lay but a single finger on Integra, and I will not only make him my familiar, I will put him through tortures that will make what I did in life seem like tickling by comparison."

That would be hard to surpass, Rose reflected, when Alucard, when he was known as Vlad the Impaler, was noted for mind-boggling atrocities. Rose knew too much about him, thanks to one of Dudley's few interests in history. But of course Dudley would enjoy a lot of things with gore involved.

Alucard calmed himself with an effort, before a smirk came back over his features, although it seemed a touch fixed. "Anyway, I'm just curious. Do either of you know exactly why you are Cat Sìth? Okay, I can understand if you don't know, but…"

"Apparently I was adopted by the Potters," Rose said. "For some reason, I had bindings on me, bindings that only broke. I even had potions in me, loyalty and compulsion potions. But…I don't know who. My parents think that Dumbledore was involved, but I don't know why."

Alucard rolled his eyes. "Okay, well, I knew old Albus when he was younger. You know that he defeated Grindlewald during World War II, but you may not know that Albus used to be Grindlewald's lover. They even shared the same ambitions, to conquer the world, all in the name of the Greater Good. But a lover's spat, along with their brother intervening, ended with Albus' dear sister biting it. Now, I don't think he was a bad man at the time, just an idealist who didn't think things through, and he could have become a good man. But something happened after defeating Grindlewald. Albus had so many accolades and titles thrown at him…well, they went to his head. The first time we met, it was on the battlefields of World War II. I had been eating some of Grindlewald's supporters, and, well, Albus got on his high horse and called me a monster. I had Walter give him grief. We've met again and again over the years, and, well, his opinion of me has worsened. The last time we met was shortly after Integra took over the reins of Hellsing. It nearly came to a fight, then and there. Only Integra stopped us." His eyes flickered over to Rose. "You remind me of her a little. You have that same, righteous fire, a strength of character, the ability to be a leader of men."

"Maybe I should meet her one day," Rose said.

"I'm sure she'd love to," Alucard said with a smirk. "The upshot is…Dumbledore is not to be trusted."

"And yet, a homicidal ancient vampire can be trusted?" Rose asked.

"Ironic, isn't it?" Alucard chuckled.

"I'm glad someone's amused…" Schrödinger murmured.

 **CHAPTER 10 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **So, Alucard has learned things from Schrödinger, things he didn't want to hear. So…yeah. The next chapter will be about Alucard tracking down Sirius Black. Keep an eye out…**

 **Review-answering time!** **Raikaguken** **: Sadly, not going to happen.**

 **Guest** **: (regarding Dumbledore bashing) True enough, but I usually like to reconstruct Dumbledore in my stories rather than deconstruct or bash him. I'd like to think that, when confronted with his mistakes, the Dumbledore of canon would try to rectify them. If, for example, there were other blood relatives of Lily other than Petunia, he would send Harry to them. That being said, there are some stories where it suits me to bash Dumbledore, but only if it suits the story.**

 **Face Yourself** **: Rose, sadly, listened more to Ron, and is regretting it. She's not really an intellectual type as much as Hermione is, or at least is not a bookish type as much. She is meant to be a female version of Harry, rather than a mix of Harry and Hermione, and while she's smarter than the canon Harry, she's not at Hermione's level. She's closer to Hermione in terms of friend-making, true, but in terms of interests, she's closer to Ron.**

 **L's Cappucino** **: I find it nigh-impossible to write a traitorous Weasley family, though I am attempting it for** ** _On the Delights of Drinking Blood_** **, though I don't think I can manage it. Ron's an arse, but mostly due to immaturity. Ditto Ginny's fangirl tendencies. I can write about Harry having broken off with the Weasleys in post-canon stories, due to breaking up with Ginny, but that's normal human relationships. That being said, I can't really write Harry/Ginny fics, with the sole exception being my oneshot** ** _HoneyMoon_** **, which is about Harry and Ginny having a honeymoon…on the Moon. I prefer Harmony, Lunar Harmony, and Harry/Luna, or else crossover pairings.**

 **The Aluminium Thumb** **: I'm sure at least the Abridged Alucard's done that before.**

 **1\. Mary Whitehouse was an infamous self-appointed moral guardian, dedicated to protesting against anything she took umbrage to on film, TV, etc.** ** _Doctor Who_** **was one of her favourite targets, and getting approval of creating a 'nice children's show' was enough for the Goodies to try and piss her off.**


	12. Chapter 11: A Most Sirius Matter

**CHAPTER 11:**

 **A MOST SIRIUS MATTER**

Ah, the thrill of the hunt. Even in life as Vlad the Impaler, Alucard loved the hunt, whether it be of animals, or of his enemies. Having been dropped off by helicopter in Scotland somewhere ahead of where Sirius Black was meant to be, Alucard had then sent out his familiars to try and track down Sirius, and soon got a response. He grinned. While Sirius was to be taken in alive and intact, Alucard felt like having some fun with him first. By all accounts, Sirius was something of a prankster, so he should appreciate this.

As he made his way towards Sirius' position, Alucard reflected on what his familiar, the one shaped into the catboy's pet, had relayed to him. So, Schrödinger, Rose, and the Girl Who Lived's little friends now knew that he was at Hogwarts. Hopefully, they wouldn't let slip to that old goat Albus. Of a greater concern for now was Walter.

Learning that the old butler had betrayed his master to Millennium had shaken the ancient vampire. Alucard had thought of Walter as an ally, a confidante, a **_friend_**. Betrayed him, betrayed **_Integra_** , all for power.

The sad thing was, in his centuries of life (well, unlife, but who wanted to split hairs?), Alucard was used to betrayal in the name of gaining more power. Hell, he had done it himself. But…it still stung, acutely.

It was all he could do not to abandon the mission here and now, call in the chopper, head back to Hellsing, and interrogate Walter, ensure that Integra was safe. But Walter wouldn't make a move until either Millennium did…or else he was threatened. Alucard, for all his reckless bloodlust, was no fool. Integra wasn't in immediate danger. And if Alucard was wrong, and Walter somehow decided to harm her in any way, well, his end would make what Alucard did in life as Vlad Tepes pale by comparison.

A bitter irony, then. By unearthing a traitor to the Potters, and talking with a traitor to Millennium, they had learned of a traitor to Hellsing.

Those thoughts were put on hold when he realised he was getting close to Sirius. He found a large black dog, bedraggled and starved-looking, surrounded by his familiars, hellhounds, with the largest of them, which he named Baskerville, growling at said dog. Alucard had named Baskerville after, well, there was an incident with Arthur Conan Doyle when the famous author attended a dinner party hosted by Abraham van Helsing, Alucard got drunk, and, well…yeah, it was a SNAFU of sorts.

Anyway, Sirius, in his dog form, could easily be mistaken as a Grim. Not only that, but he was currently at bay, a lovely mixture of fear, fury and defiance that warmed the cockles Alucard's heart. He may look like a dog currently, but he was facing down Alucard's familiars like a man, and only a man (or a woman: hell, he wouldn't mind getting staked in bed after banging someone as hot as Mina Murray or his master) could defeat a monster.

Alucard, who had been sticking to the shadows, emerged into the moonlight. "A lovely night for a walk, isn't it? A little moonlit stroll across the Scottish Highlands? Bloody cold in autumn, but that just adds a certain briskness to the air. I just have one question, though. How much is that doggy in the window?"

Sirius' dog form did a great impression of staring at Alucard incredulously. This was impressive, considering that dogs' faces were not made for more human expressions.

"Well, you've been hard to track down," Alucard said, entering the circle of his familiars, and approaching Sirius. "Annoyingly so, and for that, you deserve punishment," he added, reaching into his coat, pulling something out…and with lightning speed, he whacked Sirius over the head with it. "Bad doggy! Bad doggy!"

Sirius yelped in surprise as Alucard kept hitting him over the head with a rolled-up newspaper. Then, Alucard relented, and unfolded the newspaper, a back-issue of the _Prophet_. "Now, given that you're a fugitive on the run from the authorities, I can understand you not having a subscription to the _Prophet_. Which I wholeheartedly recommend having, by the way. You can use it for toilet paper, kindling, and if you feel particularly desperate, you can _read_ it. Now, note the date and the headline. You've gone rambling along the Scottish Highlands for nothing!"

So engrossed he was in laughing mockingly at Sirius, Alucard didn't notice that Sirius had changed back into a human until the newspaper was snatched from his hands, and he got a foot to the groin. With a deadpan "Ow", he collapsed to his knees. More for comic effect than anything, but even to an immortal, nigh-invincible vampire, taking a shot to the cojones was still painful. "Y'know, I never thought you swung that way, Sirius old chap. But when I blow people, it's usually blowing them away with my guns, or blowing them up with high explosives. Then again, I was a chick in the Forties, and if you're that badly blue-balled from being in prison for over a decade, I'll bang you as Girlycard."

"Shut up," Sirius said, shooting Alucard a glare, before returning to read the newspaper. Then, after a moment, he paused, and stared at Alucard. "You were a girl…in the Forties," he said flatly.

"Yep!" Alucard shapeshifted into an older version of what Walter had once snidely dubbed 'Girlycard', a title Alucard adopted with gusto. Though he kept his usual voice. "Feeling tempted?"

After a few seconds of staring, Sirius eventually said, "…That is so disturbing on so many levels, it's not funny." After another pause, he added, not quite under his breath, "…I might take a raincheck."

After Alucard's resultant laughter died down, they stood there in silence, while Sirius read the article. Eventually, he thrust the newspaper at Alucard. "Normally, I wouldn't credit the _Prophet_ with telling the truth…except it claimed that you found him and delivered him to Bones," Sirius said.

"Yep. I overheard your goddaughter and a new friend of hers discussing things, and, well, they realised that Pettigrew was masquerading as a pet of Rose's friend, one Ronald Weasley esquire. The details are not important. Anyway, afterwards, we decided to find a way to intercept you before you headed to Hogwarts. After all, the Dementors were still sent there, and I know for a fact that they hold grudges for impressively long times. You did manage to escape them, and they take that sort of blow to their pride _very_ seriously."

"But the Ministry…?" Sirius asked.

"Well, Fudge is embarrassed, but he's managed to spin this as seeing the mistake of Bagnold and Crouch corrected by him. I wouldn't be surprised if that hag Umbridge sent the Dementors here to kill you anyway, for embarrassing Fudge and having the sheer gall and temerity to escape Azkaban, innocent or not. I might eat her one day, but I'm afraid she might repeat on me."

Sirius, after a moment of considering what Alucard told him, eventually shook his head. "That doesn't matter. Is Rose safe?"

"That's a rather subjective term, but if it helps, she has unlocked her heritage. You did know about her being a Cat Sìth, right?"

Sirius nodded. "And with void affinity. I met her not long ago, shortly after I escaped. She took fright and, well, used her powers to disappear."

"Good. Now, the problem is, she's befriended another of her kind with the same affinity. Hell, he's a pretty cute boy, I'm sure they'll be married and making kittens within the decade."

"…And what's the problem with that?"

"Only that he's a defector from a Nazi remnant with a major hard-on for one last war and with a view to killing me," Alucard said with a careless shrug.

"…What."

* * *

In his rented room, the Captain tossed and turned uneasily. While some of it could be put down to jet lag, the Loup-Garou was also anxious.

This shouldn't be mistaken as fear. The Captain had not felt fear of anything for quite some time. He could be startled and surprised, he could worry and dread, and could feel fear and terror briefly, but sustained fear had been alien to him for decades. Save for where Schrödinger was concerned, anyway.

Part of it was knowing that Schrödinger was in the castle, alone, with Alucard. That could be good or bad. After all, if Alucard consumed Schrödinger, then both would cease to be, becoming quantum phantoms incapable of willing themselves back into existence. But the Captain was also concerned for Schrödinger's life.

It didn't help that the bloody Dementors kept patrolling Hogsmeade. The aura may not affect him as badly as the humans here, but it still affected him, made him uneasy and restless.

Emitting an irritated huff, he left his room, and headed to the bar area of the Hog's Head, only to find a most extraordinary figure there. A tall, wide man, drinking ridiculous amounts of booze. He had to be half-Giant with those proportions. He was complaining to the proprietor, an older man who had introduced himself to the Captain as Aberforth Dumbledore, presumably the brother of the headmaster of Hogwarts.

"…But e'en so, tha' blonde lil ponce has gone cryin' ta his daddy," the giant man was saying, his thick accent made even thicker by alcohol-related slurring.

"Of course he would, Hagrid," Aberforth said. "But still, _Hippogriffs_. What were you thinking? They're a XXX-class creature! Maybe for OWLs students at least, but Third Year students? Hagrid, you're a good man, and I'm sure your knowledge of magical creatures would be a boon. I've heard you say things that I'm sure Newt Scamander wouldn't have known. But…while I'm sure you have the right mindset towards students, you don't have the sense of danger. Though you're not alone in Magical Britain." He looked up when the Captain came in. "Ah, Hans, was it? This is Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and the Grounds at Hogwarts, and now the Care of Magical Creatures teacher. Hagrid, this is Hans Guiche(1)."

This wasn't the Captain's real name. It was just his usual pseudonym, and what he wrote down for Aberforth when he paid for his room. Hagrid looked at the Captain. "Ello," he slurred.

The Captain nodded politely. "He's mute, apparently," Aberforth said. "Do you want a drink?"

The Captain shook his head. Pulling out a pad, he wrote down, _Anything for insomnia?_

"Well, I have a mallet under the bar."

 _It'd break_ , he wrote down. A smirk didn't feature on his face, but there was something about his handwriting that did.

Aberforth gave a single scoff of laughter, before saying, "I'll get you a glass."

"Hans, huh?" Hagrid remarked blearily. "A lotta Germans 'round lately. Tha' Schrödinger kid, he sounds German."

The Captain needed every ounce of will not to stare at Hagrid. Instead, he listened as Hagrid said, "I mean, this mornin' he tol' th' Malfoy brat to…uh, how did it go? _Leck mich im Arsch_ or summat. Wha' does that mean?"

 _It means 'kiss my arse'_ , the Captain wrote down.

"Ha! Thought so. Lil shit deserves it," Hagrid slurred. "Had those weird purple eyes, tho. Schrödinger, I mean. And he's friends wi' Rose Potter. They look so sweet t'gether."

The Captain didn't like the way that Aberforth was scrutinising him. Had he spotted something in the Captain's face? The Loup-Garou doubted it. But he couldn't be certain. Still, he had confirmation, more or less, that Schrödinger was at Hogwarts, and that he was involved with the Girl Who Lived.

Hmm, there was an Owl Post Office in Hogsmeade. Maybe he could send a missive to Schrödinger, bring him down for a meeting…

* * *

"So, let me get this straight," Sirius said. "My goddaughter is involved with a defector from Millennium, a group of Nazis you vanquished during the Second World War. Said defector is a Cat Sìth. They were both potioned up to the eyeballs until recently. And the Cat Sìth who is involved with Rose was going to be used in some plot to defeat you as part of some revenge plan. Have I got it right?"

"More or less. God, it's like I didn't just get through explaining this. If I ever make a fledgling, preferably a police girl with big titties, I just know I'm gonna have to do the same with Integra, only worse."

"…I understand the titties, given how long I've been blue-balled in Azkaban, but why a police girl?"

"The better question is, why not?" Alucard asked.

* * *

Elsewhere in Britain, in the police academy, Seras Victoria sneezed twice, making her prodigious bust bounce in interesting ways, and frowned. "Am I getting a cold or something?"

* * *

"Anyhoodle, big-boobed bobbies aside, I've got to take you in to Hellsing HQ. There, the lovely Amelia Bones will question you with Veritaserum while my boss watches on. As a formality more than anything else. Once we're done, and you've been wholly exonerated, we can go out for a night on the town. I know a really good strip club, and a few good ladies who'd just love to polish your wand. There's this one called Candi who, well…the things she can do with her tongue…"

 _I cannot believe this_ , Sirius thought. _I'm being invited to a strip joint by Count fucking Dracula. I dunno whether my life has taken a turn for the better, or just plain stranger_.

Then, after a moment, he thought, _Fuck it. I'm rolling with it_. Out loud, he said, "Lead the way."

Alucard grinned. "Well, let's get going…"

 **CHAPTER 11 ANNOTATIONS:**

 **Sorry about the wait for this chapter. Though considering I am also updating** ** _Haemophilia_** **alongside this chapter, which was last updated some months before this fic…well, yeah. The interlude with the Captain wasn't planned, but helped get the story going. I think soon there will be a confrontation between Alucard's familiar and the Captain. Vampire versus mega-werewolf! Place your bets.**

 **Hopefully, the next chapter won't be as long coming. It's worth pointing out, though, that since the last chapter, I have posted two roughly relevant fics. The first is another** ** _Hellsing_** **crossover, a oneshot I did for Halloween this year. It was a crossover with** ** _Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion_** **, and called** ** _Unholy Alliance_** **. The second was another female Harry story, albeit a WBWL story set during Year 4. It's a crossover with RWBY, my first and, to date, only such story, and it's called** ** _Neopolitan and the Goblet of Fire_** **.**

 **Review-answering time!** **Xireana Prime** **: 'The Crimson Fucker' is a reference to** ** _Hellsing Ultimate Abridged_** **, where it's Alucard's alias, and is even his Twitter account. No, really. It's TheCrimsonFuckr, and no, that's not a typo for his account.**

 **1\. This is a fanon name for the Captain, derived from one of Kouta Hirano's other works. I adopted it here as an alias for him.**


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